When People AREN'T Looking

I'm not much one for moralizing; I'm a lawyer. When people come into my office and talk about what the right or moral thing to do, I tend to chuckle and tell them that the Christ Church Cathedral is a mere 90 degrees around the Circle.

Nonetheless, I read something on All Pro Dad (highly recommended) that was a story by Tony Dungy about a time his integrity was tested. It was a nice little story with a happy ending, but it got me to thinking about what integrity means.

I remember my grandfather (a WWII veteran and genuine hero) telling me that honor is doing the right thing even when nobody is looking. He told me it pays off in the long run to be ethical and honorable. Rest assured, in my chosen profession, there are probably plenty of people who don't live up to this ideal, but the vast majority do. I'd like to share one small experience I had with doing the right thing even when nobody was looking.

The year was 2008. I lived in Broad Ripple. I was single and going out to the bars. I stopped at the Chase ATM on the corner of Broad Ripple Ave. and College. Somebody had left their account up, and I could have withdrawn as much money as the ATM would allow. I won't lie. I was tempted.

I hit the cancel button and proceeded to withdraw my own money.

About a week later, I was overpaid by my employer by more money than I could have gotten from the ATM.

I gave the money back.

Some might call me a sucker. However, I can unequivocally say that my life has gotten demonstrably better since that happened. Integrity pays for itself, even if it takes years to show. I now have a beautiful family, a good job, a beautiful home, and live in the finest place in America (Speedway!).

I hope that my late grandfather, a lion of a man who fought in WWII and came back to America to fight for his own community for the next 50 years, saw my actions and took pride in them, even if his grandson did wind up being a dastardly lawyer.

Mr. Burns' lawyer, from The Simpsons.