The Situation
Today we went to the scrap metal yard, as we usually do. The process there is simple:
- Enter the yard and pull up on the scale with your truckload of metal.
- Get weighed.
- Drive around the yard to the scrap metal pile and throw your metal off.
- Get back on the scale and get weighed again.
- Go to the cashier’s window and get paid.
The Test of Integrity
Today everything was normal here until we got to step #5. That’s when they gave us $250 we shouldn’t have gotten. When the lady behind the cashier’s window entered our “empty” weight, she entered it as “640” instead of “6440.” With an initial weight of 6,660 pounds, it means she credited us with dropping off over 6,000 pounds of metal that we didn’t drop off. We received $288 from the window when it should have been $34.
My corrected scrap metal ticket, down $250 from what it was at first.
I could have driven off and no one would have known. After all, it was there mistake, right? But I knew, and I knew that God knew, and I had to make it right. I contacted a supervisor before leaving the yard and showed him the mistake. I gave him all the money back then received in return my $34.
The Joy I Felt
When I pulled out of the yard with the correct amount of cash in my hand, I knew I had passed the “test of integrity.” It felt right. I was happy. What’s more, my credibility with the scrap metal people took an upward jump.
I was much happier knowing I had done the right thing than I would have been with the extra $250. My integrity is worth more than that. Today I was able to prove it.
