Are most of us irredeemably dishonest and corrupt?? ??

Among my community, there is a common saying that people ‘eat’ where they work or operate around; ‘Eating’ here connotes pilfering or stealing. Though such sayings are neither gospel truth nor morally correct, they nevertheless influence people’s behavior and especially where good, strong morals and principles lack.

Yet, such a saying may manifest positively where one gets tipped handsomely by clients or where one’s bosses appreciate good efforts with regular tokens of appreciation which can include good cash.

But in some situations, the saying could easily mislead and capture people leading them astray when and where they pilfer cash, items or goods at their workplaces.

Thoughts related to the saying came to mind recently after i went to a hotel in town and ordered the arrow roots delicacy. A full arrow root though rather small is what I choose from the counter.

But when the waitress brought me the order on a plate, the arrow roots appeared so few since they had already had been chopped into pieces.

I asked the woman how come the pieces were so few relative to what I had ordered. She agreed with me and confessed that the man at the counter had most likely taken some pieces away. . I took the issue lightly but complained that it is always unfair for one to ‘harvest’ where one had not sowed or rather to ‘eat’ someone’s else sweat as we say in the local lingua of my place of origin….

… Nevertheless, I still regularly visit the hotel  when in need of a snack which I often prefer to be arrow roots and given that it is rare to get. Yet, I have noticed with concern that the delicacy serving is always so small . But all the same it being my preferred choice, I cannot do much to change the reality.

This reality has made me recall that chopped chapatis always turn out to be fewer than what a full chapati would be and that many customers now prefer full non-chopped chapatis servings..

… . This reality emerged after the customers realized that part of their ordered, chopped chapatis are pilfered away on the chopping board. Roast meat is also not spared the vice and today butchers (after hearing many complaints that roasted meat is stolen on the roasting stoves) now prefer to have their waiters chop the meat at the table to ensure full evidence of a full order delivered.

Our level of dishonesty is appalling and especially in hotels where those who pilfer customers’ food are known or expected to have all the food they may need ‘a hand-stretch’ away and at their easy disposal….