A custom I find as I travel is for hotels to ask you to check your bill. Rarely is there a mistake. What is often missing is breakfast. And the question always pops up, do you remind them?
The rationale for not saying a word often goes like this.
“Hotels are big corporations that can afford to absorb a meal or two.”
“Hotels prices are too high anyway; this is a way of leveling things out.”
“Why should I remind them of something that is their responsibility?”
“I am sure I was charged extra sometime, this merely levels things out.”
“Who will know or care? Besides, if they catch it later I’ll gladly pay.”
Buried in each statement is an assumption of the impact on the victim. Things have been unfair and this represents an opportunity to level things out, right? Hotels are big companies and should accept the role and responsibility of making things right, even it is at their expense. I think we often forget who the first real victim is.
The hotel is not going to miss the small amount of money that they are going to be shorted. True, they may have processes in place to identify and recover the lost revenue, however if they miss one or two transactions I doubt it will make a material difference on their income statement. The same cannot be said for the person involved.
Our choices, decisions, and actions make a statement to our soul. We tell ourselves what our real values and priorities are. It is as if we are settling part of the debate the ranges within, who and what will I choose to have as my god? We accurately know in this situation what are motives are. We know that a charge is missing and we have decided to cheat someone else out of what we have previously agreed to pay them.
“Switching price tags and padding the expense account are two things God hates.” (Proverbs 20.10)
God loves you and me. He hates everything that destroys, especially from the inside out.
