Honesty has its power; it builds trust and brings good relations. The actions of an honest person leave a mark. The years pass, but we never forget the good things, just as I have not forgotten Mrs Melita Petrač and her honesty.
In my hometown, I worked in a paper mill for a few years before I retired. It was a warm day in August, when one of the premises was crowded with schoolchildren and their parents. They were carefully gathering the school supplies they needed to start the new school year. As a newcomer to the retail business, I was proud of myself for managing to serve the customers despite the overwhelming crowds. Schoolchildren were holding a list of school supplies. The service was fast as they read what they needed, I put things on the counter and everything flowed smoothly.
At the end of the working day, I realised that we were short of charcoal for drawing. As it was necessary to order the material, I informed my boss. We checked the stock and found that the inventory of charcoal did not match the actual situation. It was not clear to us where the problem lay.
After a short reflection, I realised where the mistake had been made. Each box contained ten pieces of charcoal. What had happened was that I had sold the whole box to customers, but I had only counted on one piece. My fellow sales assistants had not told me that the charcoal was sold by the piece.
On that day, I handed in about 15 boxes instead of 15 pieces of individual black drawing charcoal. I suggested to my boss that she deduct the amount of the shortfall from my monthly salary. But my heart would not leave me alone. I turned the film of the whole day over in my mind and tried to remember all the customers. For the sake of memory, I managed to call a few of the customers on the phone and explain the situation to them. I politely asked them to return the excess pieces of charcoal. The buyers did not respond to my request, except for a lady from the vicinity of our town.
A fair-haired, slender lady with a calm character and a kind face, Mrs Melita Petrač, who is originally from Sabonj near Podhradje, knew without hesitation what she had to do when I called her. The next day, she honestly returned what she felt was not hers. The return was a validation of the importance of her action. Honesty counts.
Melita's honesty made me hear a special melody in my heart. Her honesty was literally put on the scales and she chose to weigh right and wrong. She chose to make the right move. A sense of responsibility and right action keeps one's inner peace.
Bernarda Jenko, 9 .6. 2025
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