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retail dilemma

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kirstin
Oct 30 2003
10:49 am

well, i need some advice and where else would i turn than to my friends at *cino?

[for background: I manage a non-profit, volunteer-run retail store selling products made by disadvantaged people]

in counting up the cash at the end of the day on Tuesday of this week, we came up $25 short. the volunteers in the morning had counted the starting cash and came up with $79.60. it was a cold, rainy, slow day and we only sold a candy bar all day—$1.06 sale. however, when we counted at the end of the day, we were exactly $25 short of what we should have had. according to the notes that the morning volunteers had made, the $25 that had disappeared was in singles.

i’m positive the cash didn’t “walk away” in the afternoon. we only had a few customers and the (trusted and fairly well-off) volunteer was by the cash register whenever there was someone in the store. i was also at the store in the afternoon.

in the morning, however, i was not at the store. the volunteers were Louise and Linda (names changed to protect the innocent, of course). Louise is someone i’ve gotten to know well at church. she has a lot of the same interests i do when it comes to being involved in ministries of the church, she and her husband loaned us tools in the renovation process and i trust her very much. Linda is someone from the community who signed up on our volunteer list in the store. when i first called her about volunteering, i was a bit suspicious because she said she was unemployed, could work as much as i wanted her to, and “just loved being around the products.” however, as i got to know her, i grew to like her. she talked about being on a journey to live a simpler life, borrowed a lot of the social justice books from our little store library and was a very warm, friendly person. when i arrived at the store on Tuesday afternoon, both Linda and Louise were here, along with Louise’s boyfriend, whom i don’t know at all.

after we discovered the cash was missing, i called Louise to see if she knew what had happened. she had no idea—said there were customers in, but none of them had purchased anything or gotten near the cash register. as much as i was trying not to, i was still beginning to suspect Linda and/or her boyfriend. i held out for the idea that maybe Linda had walked to the bank to exchange the singles for larger bills, but when i got ahold of her the next day, she had no idea what had happened. i asked her if she or Louise had gone to the bank with the money. she said no. then she said she knew what i must be thinking—that she took it. and she said she would think she took it if she were in my place. she asked if i thought she took it and i said the first think i could think of—“No, we trust our volunteers.” probably because that’s how i really wanted to feel.

anyway (this keeps getting longer, doesn’t it?), i still didn’t know what to think, even though all signs (vague and inconclusive though they were) pointed to Linda having taken the money (the boyfriend would not have been able to take it without Linda’s help).

so i was prepared to let it go and take action if it happened again, since i had no conclusive evidence and still wanted to believe that Linda hadn’t taken it. i put up a note for volunteers to always be near the cash register when customers were in the store and to let people know that we’re non-profit and what our mission is (in the hope that guilt might deter any theft). then, today i got a note from Linda.

Kirstin, I hope you have solved the problem of the missing money. I’m very uncomfortable by this. I have chosen a life of simpler living, not to take to make things easier for me. I feel accused. To me, this is a very awful feeling. I cannot help up there anymore. I feel eyes will be on me. Good luck to you and your great pursuit. Linda

when i talked to her on the phone, i didn’t ask her any questions that i did not ask Louise, simply if she knew what had happend to the money (how else are you supposed to broach a subject like that?).

what do i make of this? what should i do next? i want to do what’s wise, but i’m not sure what that is at the moment.

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JabirdV
Nov 01 2003
09:38 am

I am so sorry to say this…I hate the commerciality of the phrase…but what would Jesus do here? Yes, you own a business and you must protect your investment in as saavy of a way you know how. Yes, you have learned that there is a weakness in your present system (through the posts of those before me) and I am sure you will be addressing this very quickly.

But what is at stake is not $25. It is the heart and soul of an individual.

Yes, she probably did do it. All evidence points to that conclusion. But how can you love her and show Christ to her despite and because of the offense? How can you be light and salt in her darkness and blandness. Kirstin, I am sure this is what you are wrestling with (I think I know you well enough to know that). Seek guidance from the scriptures on how Jesus dealt with sinners…particularly those who lived off thievery of some sort. Look beyond the specific actions Christ took, but into the passionate reasons he took them. Distinguish between the offense of God and the offense of man where possible.

You are engaged in two businesses: The business of your passion, and the business of God’s passion. The two must always interact with each other. Find the lesson God wants to teach you (and Linda).

One more thing, let me know if you need the $25. We would be happy to hand that over. A little grace for a little mercy can go a long long way.

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mrsanniep
Nov 01 2003
10:15 am

I agree with some of the things you’ve written, JabirdV, but Jesus also called upon the sinners he “hung out with” to repent of their sins. Simply being kind, nice and forgiving of Linda isn’t exactly the perfect scriptural Christ-like response, in my opinion.

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JabirdV
Nov 01 2003
10:45 am

Agree completely. It was not my intention to encourage niceness…but to encourage searching for the passion of God. This ultimately leads to the heart of this woman which instigates either a change or an abandonment on her part. Our call as Christians is to seek His passion and purpose. Those two never only involve being nice, but always involve being faithful to His direction and desires.

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kirstin
Nov 03 2003
05:24 am

i wanted to add to this thread something that a friend of mine e-mailed to me directly:

I was reading the discussion about the volunteer who is suspected to have stolen some cash from you. I guess I’m of a different opinion than most because I think it would be good of you to extend some mercy to her. I know she said she didn’t
want to come back, but it seems to me that her life has changed for the better since she’s come into your fellowship & your store. Inside, I bet she’s dying to be there. If you could continue to help her by lending her books, giving her meaningful work and
engaging conversations, then she might be able to turn herself around to a point where those aspects of her former life (stealing, maybe) would be dissolved. Also, you kinda need volunteers, don’t you (I know, not dishonest ones) but on top of that, you don’t really know for sure that she took it. Anyway, that’s my opinion although I’m sure that all these things have been flying through your head since it happened.

for a while, i was leaning toward calling her to say i was sorry that was her decision, but i would honor it and take her off the schedule. but i’m beginning to think more about how i could take positive action in my response, actively showing grace. and i’m realizing how much i need to grow if i’m going to meet that challenge.

another piece to this whole puzzle is that, before this incident, (and i’m realizing now that my anger is subsiding how important this is) she joined a group that’s helping support the store in its first three years by paying $10 a month in return for certain benefits (discounts, special events, etc.) she had already paid for the first three months of membership dues.

i would like to leave the door open for her to come back, but i also cannot apologize as though i was at fault. and i can’t be dishonest about my suspicions. at this point, anyone who was in the store that morning is suspect—except for Louise, who, I should mention, generously gave us a check for $25 because she felt badly about what had happened.

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kirstin
Nov 03 2003
07:32 am

i should say that my most nagging dilemma at the moment is what to say to her when she inevitably asks me if i think she took the money.

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Jasonvb
Nov 03 2003
07:45 am

Would you be telling the truth if you simply said yes or no? If she says she didn’t take it, I would believe her.

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kristinmarie
Nov 03 2003
06:00 pm

One tactic that I sometimes use to keep from having to answer uncomfortable questions is responding with my own question. She asks “Do you think I took it?” You say, “Why do you ask?” It might seem a bit strange, conversationally, but it usually gets the other person talking about what’s on their mind, and might open up a door to a more in depth conversation.

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kirstin
Nov 13 2003
03:51 am

i called Linda last week—and it was actually a great conversation. i left the possibility open for her to still volunteer. she apologized for “freaking out.” she said the money disappeared and there were too many coincidences. she felt as though with all of the “church ladies” involved, she would immediately be suspected. i invited her to consider volunteering again and to let me know when she was ready.

i still don’t know what happened to the money, but i am very comfortable with the way everything turned out. thank you all for helping me go from a state of anger to a state of grace.