The Locker Thief

Lessons from our past can often serve as guideposts for our future.  When I was in middle school, my friend and I asked the history teacher for permission to go to the library and grab a few books for an upcoming research paper. The teacher gave each of us a hall pass and together, we marched down the long hallway lined with lockers toward our destination. Halfway down the hall, my friend noticed a locker that was partially open and for whatever reason, he decided to open it and look inside. Back in the day, students decorated lockers as a personal statement and it was always interesting to take a look at the posters, stickers and memorabilia.

The owner of this locker had cut pieces of carpet and somehow affixed them to the back and sides of the walls. I was intrigued by the detailing and joined my friend in taking a closer look. I knew that I was invading someone’s personal space, but my motivation was simply to appreciate the creative design, not to engage in any mischief. I reached in to touch the carpet with my hand and then a voice shouted, “Hold it right there, I’ve got you!”

This was a middle school locker stake out. Several items had been stolen from the carpeted locker in prior weeks, so owner decided to bait the perpetrator by leaving his locker partially open to see if the thief would come back for more. Immediately, I wanted to run and deny my involvement, but I was caught with my hand literally in the cookie jar. My friend and I were hauled down to the principal’s office and our mothers were called down to the school for a meeting.

It was an embarrassing and humiliating time for me. I was labeled a thief and was treated like one. Although it felt unfair to be unjustly accused of theft, I understood my lack of judgement and acknowledged that I had put myself in a terrible position. This became a lifelong lesson for me about taking responsibly for my actions and about how others responded to negative actions as a result. One of the spiritual values we always try to instill is trustworthiness. My actions in middle school tarnished my ability to have others see me as a trustworthy person.

Once in high school, I made sure to reestablish my positive reputation and for the next two years, I stayed on the path of being a wholesome, responsible student. I felt confident my actions were a better representation of who I was and wanted to be.  My locker incident was far behind me and forgotten… or at least I thought.

In junior year, I met a girl at a school event and asked her out on a date. This was uncharacteristic of me. I didn’t really go on dates and I hardly knew the girl. Shortly after we set a date and time to get together, I learned her father was our middle school principal, the one who had dealt with me as a thief. I dreaded driving to the girl’s house and knocking on the door. I was ushered into their home and as was customary for the day, I met her father. We shook hands and I saw judgement in his eyes, but he never mentioned the past incident.  We left for our date and I made sure I brought her home early.

Our actions follow us, even when we think we are past them. One poor decision can become part of our permanent history. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5:15, Look carefully on how you walk, not as unwise but as wise.  I found this to be true.

My prayer for our students is they have the wisdom to see there are consequences for poor decisions and it’s important to establish and maintain a positive reputation.