Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012

Readers show honesty is alive and well

Every weekday morning, a newspaper carrier places eight copies of The News & Observer on the Record's doorstep. By the time I arrive, usually between 7:30 and 8, the number of papers is down to seven; someone is stealing a copy.

A cynic would say that this is just the way people are, and while I'm disappointed that someone would steal the Record's property, I cannot say that I am surprised. But the optimist in me notes that seven papers are still there when I arrive in the morning. That is reassuring because it shows that, apart from our thief, most people wanting an N&O choose to buy one out of the rack rather than steal one from the Record. In other words, most people are honest.

By the way, The N&O also delivers to the Record office on weekends. I am not sure of the number of copies, because they seem to vary from one to three. Or maybe we have one or more thieves on the weekend too.

The other Saturday, I went to the office about midday, after a morning at The Hut, where I was part of a Neuse Little Theatre set-building crew. Bending down, I picked up two N&O copies - and three quarters.

Here's what I figure happened: The N&O rack in front of the Record office was empty, so a would-be N&O reader saw the copies at our front door and, essentially, purchased one.

The N&O rack in front of our office sells out quite often, which is good for the company, and I assume that more than one person, staring at an empty rack, has taken one of the loose papers on our doorstep. (On rare occasions, those eight papers are as few as four or five.) But this is the first time that anyone has paid for the privilege, and it's worth noting too that no one bothered to take three quarters that were in plain sight.

That Saturday morning, I picked up the papers and the quarters and smiled. Honesty is alive and well, and while human beings are far from perfect, we're often better than we give ourselves credit for.