To the newspaper

Copy of a letter sent to The Spec this morning. I am still upset by the way I handled this whole thing. Lesson well learned.

Editor. I know this may not be a normal letter but would appreciate if it can somehow be considered for publication.


I am a cashier at a local grocery store. Sunday night I had just been on cash for fifteen minutes or so when a customer came through the register next to mine. I had just finished with my own customer and turned in time to hear one man say to the other "there's a twenty on the floor."

I turned and jokingly said "It's mine." Then I saw the second man, who's back was to me, putting a folded few twenties in his pocket. I thought that the twenty must have been his and offered it to him. Big mistake on my part. I should have asked for an audit on the tray to find out where it came from before assuming it was his.

When I went to serve my next customer I realized that the twenty came from my tray and immediately told my superiors. We audited the tray and it indeed was mine. Now, I have been a cashier most of my adult life. I should have known better than to do what I did, but I am also sure that the man who received the money realizes that it was NOT his.

I was very upset by the whole incident as I have a very good reputation on cash and am very rarely out by more than a few pennies on my tray. I was upset enough by this that I had to take a few minutes to get myself together enough to serve customers. I have lost the store $20.00 and I have now been 'red-boxed' which means I get audited EVERY shift for two weeks. That is, to me, one of the worst black marks on my record.

I was upset enough that two of my regular customers asked what was wrong and upon finding out, offered to pay the $20.00 for me. I couldn't even do that. You know why? Because I am honest and I wish the person that got my twenty had been too.

I just want to thank publicly my two customers. I do not know your names, but I very much appreciate what YOU tried to do. It made me feel a whole lot better about myself.