Where'd all the good people go?

Jack Johnson contemplated this, and I'm starting to wonder the same thing. Are there good people in this world? People with a conscience, that will do the right thing, that will not try to dupe, steal, or duck responsibility? Are there? I'm seriously beginning to wonder.


Let me explain...

*Note to reader: This is a very long post. Please continue at your own risk.*

My first story takes place in my office. One of my duties is to order supplies for the whole office so any inquiries into any kind of supply gets sent to me. So naturally when some guy calls and asks about our toner supply, my friend up at the front desk would direct him my way. This guy claimed he was from Ricoh, a company that we frequently order from. I had never heard of him so I just assumed that he was our new rep since that responsibility seems to switch hands quite often. When he asked, I admitted that we were indeed low on toner and told him to send us one box.

Fast forward about a week.

I received a small package in the mail containing crappy pens and a note from a company I didn't recognize which said, "thank you for your business."

Insert red flag in Jessica's brain.

The next day I called Ricoh to find out if we indeed had some toner on the way because at this point we really were in need of some. The answer I was fearing came ringing loud and clear through the receiver, "NO." The nice Ricoh lady went on to say that people have been receiving "pirate calls" from mean men claiming they are from Ricoh and getting naive, unsuspecting, litte girls like me to order over priced supplies from them. I added those descriptions, the nice Ricoh lady would never say those things about me (although she may have been thinking it). She also said that as long as we didn't sign for the package we could send it back and wouldn't be liable for paying for it. I thanked her and hung up, immediately making my way to the front desk to inform Jennie of my new information. As I rounded the corner, I couldn't believe my eyes as none other than the UPS guy was at the desk with a toner box.

"DONT SIGN FOR THAT PACKAGE" You can go ahead and imagine me running down the hall in slow motion wtih dramatic music playing while I shout this because that's basically how it happened.

After freaking both of them out, I explained the situation to which the nice UPS guy said, "oh, I've seen this before.." And took back the package no problem.
Catastrophic consequences averted. But I ask you...what kind of person dupes people into thinking they are from Ricoh when they are really from some no name supply store? HOW DO THESE PEOPLE SLEEP AT NIGHT?!

My second story takes place a few weeks ago on a dark, snowy, slippery night. Dave and I were driving through uptown, stopped at a light when we were hit from behind, and understandably so since we had a hard time stopping at said light. Dave got out and gathered information and we didn't give it much thought. The guy who hit us said he would rather pay us out of pocket than get the insurance company involved.

Red flags should have been going off in our heads. Unfortunately they did not.

Dave and this guy exchanged a few emails, but when we finally had an estimate of the damage and tried to get a hold of him to send us the money, it proved an impossible task. We were forced to get his insurance company involved. They are still trying to get a hold of him. He is a student and under his parent's Maryland policy. His dad is a judge in Maryland for goodness sake! I have a mind to call him and say, "listen, you are a public servant, you have an obligation and responsibility to do what's right." Because apparently he's not willing to get involved either, even though he's the named insured on the policy!!

Seriously, where is the decency? Where is the honesty? Where'd all the good people go??

*If you made it all the way through this post, I thank you for your time. You are probably a good, decent, honest person.*