On Tuesday, June 13, 2017 at 10:26:12 PM UTC-5, DerbyDad03 wrote:

Do you really think it was all that different in days of yore?

From http://historiccamdencounty.com/ccnews69.shtml

Never have. Over the last 40+ years I have equipped thieves with enough tools to build a shopping mall many times over. I learned early that most people range from slightly dishonest to downright thieves.

Your employess steal time from you. All of them do. Ever take an extra cigarette break? Ever make personal calls on company time? Ever take a sick day when you weren't? Ever sneak off early to see your kid play a soccer game, go to his band recital, a baseball game, or anything else? How many times did you take exactly one hour for lunch? How many days did you say, "well,we gave it our all tomorrow, but I'm beat, so let's go home and hit it hard tomorrow". Ever take a pad, a pencil, a pen, or exaggerate your lunch/entertainment bill? Go home and take the rest of the day off when a conference was over early?

My employees take saw blades, recip saw blades, drive bits, drill bits, and put them on their tools and use them, then they are theirs. Since I own the company, I must have plenty of money to buy those things since we always have them around, right? Please, no lecture on employee management from the gallery. It is an accepted practice in today's construction fabric, as is stealing tools from your employer if you think you have been wronged in some way.

My clients have stolen from me. They want something free as they feel like it makes them better negotiators to get something free. Some are indignant if I don't give them something... anything. And I even had one client try to steal my compressor and hoses that we left (with his enthusiastic permission) overnight on the job. After I replaced the compressor and we were finishing the job, I saw my compressor in his shed when someone left the door open. It was behind other tools like his lawnmower, but he claimed it was an honest mistake.

My own truck has been broken into seven times at this point. I have had thousands of dollars or material and tools taken from jobs and even the back of my truck.

I never thought or have thought it was different except in the punishment phase. When I started in the trades it was different, and if you stole a tool that prevented a man from making a living that fed his family, you had some dire consequences (and a helluva a beating)to face if caught. Now, not so much.

I have always thought the idea of a completely honest man is a bit of childish whimsy, like unicorns or roads paved with candy canes.

If I thought even a small minority of people where honest and wouldn't steal, I wouldn't bother with the locks on anything. And for me, the honest people that observe the "it just keeps honest men honest" rule are ONLY as honest as the lock they face.

Robert