Moral courage isn’t easy, but it’s right

HOWARD FELDMAN

And, nice to eat before a donut.

Tuesday morning, prior to my workout, I was sitting in the area near where the bowls of fruit are kept, and I was talking to my brother on the phone. During the time that I was chatting, a woman in her 60s walked up to the glass bowls and started the process of selecting what I assumed was to be the perfect banana. I was amused at the care she seemed to be taking, and I became intrigued by which one she would consider the most appropriate for her after-gym snack.

After what I considered to be an unreasonable amount of time to spend on a single fruit, I notice that she had selected not one, but at least six specimens. She was well prepared for the heist, and smartly popped them into her leopard-print bag. Having done so, she neatly zipped up her booty, and glided back to join her breakfast companion at the restaurant area as though nothing had happened.

I was flummoxed. It was clear that she could very clearly afford to buy a hand of bananas. I know, because she was a member of that specific gym, she was ordering breakfast at the coffee shop, and thanks to my wife, I happen to know that leopard-print is the new black, and her bag was not old.

But that didn’t concern me as much as my own reaction did. On seeing her “bag” the bananas, I turned away and continued my conversation on the phone. I avoided making eye contact with her, and pretended that I hadn’t seen her pilfering. I was feeling uncomfortable, whereas she was the one who should have been.

Instead, I should have stood up and (politely) told her that what she was doing was unacceptable and shameful. I should have given her the opportunity to return the stolen loot. If she didn’t see the error of her ways, I should have called the gym’s management, and reported what I had seen. I should have made sure that those bananas were used in the manner that the gym had intended them to be used.

But I didn’t. Instead, I did nothing. And then went to work out.

I don’t consider myself lacking in courage. Often, I take on subjects, and have conversations that are uncomfortable, and that I know will cause aggravation and stress not only to me, but to those around me. But in this case, I most certainly lacked the moral courage to stand up to someone who was not violent or dangerous.

South Africa is a cesspool of corruption. One can hardly keep up with the amount of enquiries and investigations that are currently in play. An Excel spreadsheet is not enough to keep track of them all. Every citizen is paying the price for the squander and theft of resources. The stark reality is that we are not going to win this unless each of us finds the strength to stand up for what is right, and to transform our very good intentions into action.

It was so much easier to allow the banana thief to get away with her handful. But, I am hopeful that next Tuesday, should she try to pilfer the pears, I will be waiting for her and I will have the moral courage to tell her that it’s time her leopard-print bag changed its spots.