I was in the men's room at our local Walmart when I heard the sound of a package being torn open in one of the stalls. A young boy, about 12, opened the door, and I saw that he had a bottle of perfume in his hands, with the torn packaging on the floor.
I asked him what he was doing, and after the expected “uhhh, nothing, sir” I pointed to the packaging and asked him again. Then I showed him my police badge, and asked him a final time.
He admitted that he wanted to get his mother a nice present for her birthday, but he didn't have near enough money. I then told him that we were going to go find his mother and discuss the matter.
“Ma'am? I'm an off duty police officer, and I met your son in the rest room.” The child was near tears, knowing that he had done wrong.
“I saw that your son had found this bottle of perfume in the men's room, and was bringing it out to give to the store manager. I wanted you to know that I'm proud that your son was doing the right thing by taking this expensive perfume back to the store staff.”
I'm pretty sure that the mother knew exactly what had really happened, and she told me how happy she was that her son had learned a valuable lesson. All the boy could do was stand there, his eyes as large as saucers.
“You just keep on doing the right things, young man, and you'll grow up to be a man who can look at himself in the mirror with pride. Doing what's right sometimes isn't easy, but it's always the best way, right?”
Yeah. I could have busted him. But I think he will never forget the lesson - and the break - he got that day.
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