28th Nov 2005
Ms. Theologian responds to a witness
Dear Ms. Theologian,I have witnessed a co-worker taking cash from the petty-cash drawer. What should I do?
–Anonymous
Dear Anonymous –
First, please feel free to choose a name. Something like “Seeing, But Not Telling” or “Frightened To Open My Mouth,” or possibly “Wants to Steal Too Once I Saw How Easy It Was.”
Second, Ms. Theologian assumes that the coworker was stealing and not just taking cash to replace money the coworker put out first. Do you know this for sure? Because Ms. Theologian tries to expect the best out of people (yes, she is often disappointed, but it’s better than thinking homo sapiens suck).
All right then. This question is mainly about how we live in community with one another. It would be nice if we lived honestly and respectfully, but then Ms. Theologian is sort of an idealist as we have discussed above.
Anyway, she sees that you have three options:
a. telling a supervisor, “Boss dude, I saw Coworker take money from the cash drawer.” And the Boss will think that you’re a tattler or a brown noser and may fire your coworker. I’m not in favor of this option simply because it abdicates responsibility, that is your responsibility for being in a community, and places it on your boss.
b. telling the coworker, “Dude, I was hanging around yesterday at the copy machine and I saw you go into the cash drawer.” The coworker will blush, stammer, and deny this. And possibly hate you for the rest of your life. But not steal within your eyeshot again, better believe that, ya. This at least acknowledges that you did see something.
You might be able to go in the back way, “Dude, is something wrong? Because yesterday while hanging out at the copy machine….” This might even open the door for dialogue. Because maybe your coworker was starving to death and didn’t want to ask for a loan. Or maybe your coworker is secretly buying his sister who was sold into slavery. You never know.
c. doing nothing….appealing, no? This is appealing until you realize that it may happen again, and again.
Find a way to say something. What you say depends on your relationship with your coworker. Or find a way to live without saying anything. It’s actually that simple.
–Ms. Theologian
