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Being responsible involves moral and legal trustworthiness according to Websters Disctionary. I had a friend tell me a very interesting story that happened to his friend’s son at a Wal-Mart store over the summer. His son, Mark, had been sent to collect a few items in the electronics section.

Acting Responsibily

Mark told his dad that while he was looking for the items he needed to bring back to their cart; he saw a handful of boys in a closely-knit circle hovering around some items in the electronics section. Mark recognized the boys from school. They weren’t friends of his, but he recognized them because they were always getting into trouble and drama followed them where ever they went, so he started to turn around and head back the way he came, until one of the boys peeked his head out from the circle and called out to Mark.

Mark looked back at the group of boys that had called his name just in time to see one of the boys putting what appeared to be an iPod in his pocket; while the other boys were scanning the sales floor for anyone watching. One of the boys made their way over to Mark and greeted him. Mark said he asked the boys what they were doing and the boy admitted to Mark that they were stealing and getting what they called the “5 finger discount.” He says the boy then asked him if he’d be interested in helping them steal. Mark backed away from the boy, shaking his head. He knew stealing was wrong. Mark told the boy he had to quickly get back to his dad and left.

Speaking up at Wal-Mart

When Mark found his dad in the store, he told him what had happened. Mark’s dad told his son that if he witnessed a crime, he needed to report it to someone, because if he didn’t, they might very well get away with it and continue doing it until they get caught. He says Mark looked nervous, but agreed. He accompanied Mark to the manager’s office and they knocked on the door. When the manager came to the door, Mark explained that he had seen a few boys he recognized from school stealing what appeared to be IPods out of the electronics department.

The manager thanked Mark for letting them know, spoke into the headset attached to his ear and headed back into the office. Mark and his dad turned around and headed to the checkout counter. My friend said he and Mark had been standing in line for a few minutes, when they noticed the boys being escorted out of the store by a police officer.

English: Patricia Maynor, of the Post Exchange’s loss prevention office, scans the store Sept. 16 from an electronic video surveillance room. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few minutes later, Mark and his dad had checked out and were about to head out of the doors to the store when the manager ran up to them quickly and stopped them. He thanked Mark for his honesty; and told him to let him know as soon as he turned 15, because he had a job waiting on him.

Responsible Act Leads to Greater Responsiblity

My friend says a few months later, Mark obtained his workers permit and the manager hired him immediately. Apparently the manager felt Mark had a good eye for loss prevention; he gave him a job with his own office space watching security cameras and working with the rest of the loss prevention team.

• Why did Mark need to report the crime?
• Why do you think Mark felt nervous when his dad told him he needed to report the crime to the management team?

Finally, consider this very important question…