02.03.06 Using Company Assets for Personal Gain Is Theft – You Will Lose the Blessings of Life (Orig Ng 18)

18. A Cocktail of Blessings and Curses’ - Is That Love?

The sound of the pipe organ filled the church atmosphere as believers entered the old yet serene building.  This Sunday was special, it was confirmation day.  And as is the norm in Anglican churches, many parents had gathered to witness children as they boldly declared their faith to the Almighty.

Salome’s twelve-year old twins were amongst the youngsters that neatly stood in single file at the altar, ready to recite the creed which they had been memorizing earnestly, weeks on end. 

As Salome looked on, the mother could not help but feel relieved that at long last, the day was finally here.  Ritually, one was expected to have at least a small get-together after the church ceremony.  And, given her salary, getting the party organized had been a struggle.  This had been accentuated by the fact that her husband Bateesa had recently been retrenched from his job as a guard in a security company.

Thinking back, Salome shuddered as she recalled the milestones that had preceded this important event.  It had all started when they sat with Bateesa to make a budget for the so called ‘get together’.  Figures were not working out; thence, Salome had to crack her head in order to come up with some solutions to cut the budget.  This was when she had remembered seeing some sugar that had been deserted somewhere in the office for quite some time.  She had reluctantly toyed with the thought of taking it… half of her convinced it would be ‘stealing’ and the other half insisting that she could get away with the act.  And, as the confirmation day drew nearer, the coercive voice to grab the sugar had taken over.  Salome had confided in her best friend and work-mate Amina who had lovingly said, “Do not worry, you are not taking it because you are a bad woman… you have no other option…, besides nobody will even notice…”, promising to keep it a secret.  And as Salome sat on the church pews, she guiltily hoped that the Almighty would understand her plight, and forgive her anyway.

The church ceremony was over after some hours, and it was time to go home and enjoy the simple lunch that Salome and Bateesa had prepared for their visitors.

Salome had prudently decided that her home-made juice would be on the ‘high table’, which included her husband Bateesa, twin sons and the grandparents.  The rest of the visitors would be having some cheap packet juices that had been made by some local women’s group.

The function went well, and soon it was time to say farewell to guests.  Some lingered on, but the jovial mood was soon to be spoilt.  For in the early hours of the night, the twins, Bateesa and the grandparents developed very severe stomach upsets.  In fact, the situation was so bad that one of the twins fainted.

Fortunately, Bateesa’s best friend a taxi driver named Suleiman, had not yet left.  And so, Bateesa requested Suleiman to rush the sick folk to the village hospital where they were diagnosed with severe food poisoning.

Early the following morning, Salome called her supervisor Luusi, asking to be excused from duty as her entire family had been admitted.

Meanwhile at Salome’s office, Luusi was frantically moving around in desperate panic.  Apparently, some few weeks ago, one of the messengers had sprayed some odourless insecticide in the food cupboard; only confessing the following day that she had accidentally sprayed the packet that had the sugar in it.  Since the sugar had obviously been poisoned, Luusi had kept the sugar on a shelf, seemingly well out of reach, planning to dispose of it early Monday morning.  And now, it was nowhere to be seen.  Luusi was worried lest the messengers had used the sugar in the tea served to employees that morning.

When Luusi quizzed one messenger after another, Amina confessed that Salome had taken the sugar for use on her twins’ Confirmation Party. 

This was when Luusi froze as she added ‘two and two together!’…  Salome had just called to say that members of her family had been admitted…; and, the sugar was missing.  It took less than a second for Luusi to realize that Salome’s family had drunk the poisoned sugar!

During the days that followed, the lives of Salome’s family members hung in the balance as doctors struggled to rid the victims of the poison.  Salome was devastated.  For in the event of wanting to show love and care, she had ended up poisoning the people she loved most.

I referred to this story when talking to some employees recently about the evils associated with pilferage. 

I warned that ‘company property was company property’, and that anything, however small, should never find its way in the employees’ pockets or homes. 

I lamented against the habit that some had, of submitting fake receipts instead of returning balances on imprest, warning that any money used for dishonest gain was a curse that would end up harming them and their families.

What use would it be to bless your loved ones today and then kill them tomorrow?