Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls;
Who steals my purse steals trash: ’tis something, nothing;
’Twas mine, ’tis his, and has been slave to thousands:
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.
This quotation from Shakespeare’s Othello reminds us of the harm we do when, without justification, we besmirch the name of others. A major problem of stores, especially the supermarkets is caused by the habit of shoplifting. One would imagine that it would be easy to detect the shoplifter by the way s/he moves around. The manager of the supermarket has to be absolutely certain that the person did take an item/items without making payment. The inspection of the person’s shopping basket, or bag, has to be done discreetly. At no time should the inspection take place in public view on the road and it would seem necessary that a private room should be available for the inspection.
In many supermarkets there are mirrors and video monitors so that there is no reason for an innocent person to be challenged and searched. When it becomes obvious to other shoppers that a search is taking place the person loses her/his good name for all time, and the person has no means of explaining her/his position and redeeming a good name. When the search is on the roadway there is more harm done, as there is no means of knowing who passed by.
From a consumer point of view, therefore, the managers of stores and supermarkets should be as discreet as possible when searching for items shoplifted.
In London on one occasion, when I was wasting time sauntering around a jewellery store, I noticed the security guard was keeping me in sight. I did not mind as the store had few customers, I was not known and I felt that the security was earning his salary by following me.
British American Insurance Company
Some months ago a consumer telephoned the Guyana Consumers Association reporting that the doors of the British America Insurance Company were closed and there was no means of paying premiums on a policy. The consumer returned a few days ago and reported that the doors of the British American Insurance Company in Waterloo Street were again closed, and a clerk was not available to receive money and give a receipt.
British American Insurance Company is a subsidiary of the CL Financial Group, and policy-holders want to know what their position is. They have been given no official information.
Foreign language?
Comments are being made on the low standard of English shown by persons who are computer literate and who rely on the computer to correct their English. It is sad to see these capable persons not knowing how to punctuate or where to use capital letters. One comment is that English now seems to be a foreign language in Guyana. What is disturbing is that some persons who are teaching English are themselves not fully acquainted with the language. What then will be the competence of those who are trained by that teacher?
