While my husband and I were living in Florida, I applied for a job at a local bank. Sharing the name of the bank isn’t important, but what happened one morning needs to be exposed.
When I was employed by the bank manager as his secretary, I was given a full indoctrination of bank policies and procedures. This was important for my career there as I had never been employed by a bank before. I took their instructions serious. I was further encouraged that my assignment held with it the priority to both influence and encourage other employees to employ good public relation skills with the bank customers.
In addition to my secretarial responsibilities, I was in charge of opening new accounts; but more importantly, I was the designated liaison with their largest and most important customers.
I’ll continue to explain this situation. Our largest customer had top priority of the bank’s services on their behalf. This meant that the secretary/administrator for the president of this corporation could enter the bank before and after regular business hours. I was to handle all their deposits and any withdrawals they wished to make, along with any other banking needs this corporation required.
This large corporation’s representative would handle this business with myself. When she entered the bank, my heart would race a little as I was handling more money than I knew where to place the decimal point, if you know what I mean.
Months went by and she and I, along with the president of this corporation, would enjoy the personal interaction as their business transaction was taken care of with little stress…..that is, on their part. I was always keenly aware of the importance of accuracy when it came to dollars and cents.
The day came when you can imagine what happened next. I had made a mistake. It was a big one! It was a $10, 000 mistake. I remember it happened after banking hours. I also remember going to an outside drive-through teller’s counter to do the transaction.
As I returned inside, I was glancing over the paperwork and made the incredible discovery that I had made this HUGE error in the deposit. Talk about heart racing. A variety of scenarios in response to my error were etching the airwaves of my mind. I could have laid the blame on the teller, but that wasn’t the truth.
With knees knocking, I went into the bank manager’s office I thought, for the last time. He was not only the manger, he was my boss. I quietly shared what happened. I admitted the error and my eyes must have pleaded for mercy. After a teary admission, my boss gained his facial composure, and said not to worry. He was so kind and understanding, he himself phoned the president of the corporation and told them that I was honest about the error, and that it was a mistake that I had made.
At that moment, I anticipated that my future deposits and withdrawals on behalf of this customer would be terminated.
But that was not to be. I had a congenial rapport with my boss, but I didn’t think it would cover a $10,000 error.
I went home soon after this event. Needless-to-say, my dinner appetite left town. My night’s sleep didn’t go very well either as I knew that the following morning I would be meeting with the president of this corporation. I also feared that my mistake would be announced to all of the other employees. They were far more experienced in banking than I, and I was embarrassed.
Morning came and off I went to work. My heart was beating so fast that I thought my blouse would burst from the excessive pounding. I actually arrived long before the bank would open. I will never forget what happened next.
As I approached my desk, there was a nicely wrapped gift on my desk. I assumed that “termination slips” would not be adorned in elegant wrapping paper. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Who in the world would be placing a gift on “my” desk, especially after the discovery of banking slip-up the previous afternoon?
This beautifully wrapped gift was from the president of this corporation, our largest customer. Alongside the gift was a card, thanking me for my honesty. Inside was a large bottle of my favorite cologne. How did this man know? How could anyone but my husband and the Lord know of my favorite cologne?
Later that morning, when the president arrived, he just looked at me and smiled. I think I was small enough to crawl back into the box. I just thanked him for his kindness and understanding and the LARGE dose of mercy and forgiveness. He said he wanted me to know that he was so pleased that I was honest enough to admit the mistake and not blame it on another.
I can assure you that from that day on, I triple-checked every transaction. And no, it never happened again. What struck me was that often our admissions to wrong allow us the privilege of being forgiven and aid us in learning to walk in humility. It also gave me a live illustration of “mercy.”
Cups of Cold Water 