The Problem of Deceit

Not telling the truth and engaging in deceitful behavior takes many forms. Whether it’s television ads or personal behavior, deceit can often impact our lives and leave us feeling suspicious about others.

First, for a few minor examples. Seat belts have been made mandatory for years because they save lives. It’s even become illegal to refuse to wear them. So, if wearing seatbelts is so important, then why don’t school buses have them? Students are constantly bounced up and down in their seats, and I’ve seen bus drivers speeding down residential roads. If they’re too expensive, does that mean they can’t be important for buses to have?

Another of example of deceit centers on the television ad for at home colon cancer screening (the animated talking box). I had colon cancer many years ago, but they caught it early, so I know how important early detection can be. Anyway, this home method of screening comes with a disclaimer that says: there may be false positives and false negatives with this screening. What possible use is there for this screening method if it in fact can be faulty in its result?

There is however another form of deceit that is basically stealing. Two examples come to mind. When I worked for Jack in the Box restaurants in Chicago, the store was open or twenty-four hours a day. There were actually three shifts and each had cash drawers that had to be balanced every day. About three times a week, the balance would be off about fifty to seventy dollars. I finally narrowed it down to the morning shift, but the staff at that time I had watched closely and it was inconceivable to me that anyone on that shift could be stealing. It turned out that a girl on her register, left it several times a day, and one other worker I trusted implicitly was the only possible culprit. He was a great worker, always polite, with a great attitude and work ethic.

Finally, my district manager demanded that several of us take a lie detector test. The worker I trusted the most failed it miserably. I never figured out how he did manage to steal the money. It made me feel so sad both because he was stealing and because he was so deceitful. I had also considered him to be a friend.

The above three examples of deceit were triggered by a conversation I had with a technician who fixed our water heater recently. Somehow the topic of roof repair came up, and he talked about the time when roofers came to the door offered to give him a free inspection of his roof. Since the technician had just had back surgery, he let his guard down and told them to go ahead.

While the roofers were on the roof, the technician heard some scratching sounds on the roof, so he took his phone up to the second floor right below where the roofers were working. Clear as day, he heard the roofers say “Don’t tear off too many shingles and make it look obvious, and not all in one place.” The phone recorded both the roofer’s conversation and the sound of them tearing off the shingles.

When the roofers came down off the ladder the homeowner confronted them, and they quickly took off. Since the roofing company had a three-star rating, the technician called the company and played the recording of the roofers on the phone. The homeowner also spent five-hundred dollars for a friend to fix the damage they made on his roof. The roofing company did end up paying the technician for the damage made by their workers.

Periodically, my wife and I have had roofers on the phone or at the door wanting to give a free inspection of our roof because of the storms that have come through our area and theoretically may have caused damage. We never encouraged them, and now I’m really glad we didn’t. For several years, however, other homeowners have had insurance companies pay for new roofs due to storm damage. As a result of this, our insurance premiums have gone way up because of all the claims made by others.

Since our roof had been double shingled many years ago, we knew we needed a new roof. So, we were honest and paid for it without an inspection for an insurance claim, but seems really unfair that our insurance premium went way up because of others who made questionable claims.

I don’t mean to imply that people are generally deceitful and engage in questionable behavior; however, scams are still around particularly with the phone calls we get that come to mind as constant examples of deceit. Anyway, I hope I didn’t come across as too cynical because there are many, many good people in the world. I hope things are going well for you and I’ll see you next week.

(Please remember these are my own ideas, and I’m not attempting to persuade anyone to change theirs.)

Quotes:

“Anything is better than lies and deceit.” Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive”

Walter Scott Marmion

“God hath given you one face, and you make yourself another.” Hamlet by Willliam Shakespeare

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