The Test I Failed

The Rye Quaker Meeting House

Circa 1835

Rye, New York 

October 2010

Luke 18:13 NIV

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'"

"Lori, what did you DO on the test you took the other day?"

My manager, Glen, looked at me like he had never seen me before, although I had worked in the kitchen at Day's Inn for four months.

"I answered the questions. What do you mean, 'what did I do'?"

I had just taken a test to get out of the kitchen and onto the cash register in the dining room.

I had worked for ten years at a convenience store, so I had experience behind a cash register. The new position would  boost my salary, and my hours would improve. I wouldn't be getting up at 3:00 a.m. to start the grill for breakfast. I could sleep a little later and arrive in time for the 6:00 a.m. opening of the restaurant.

Glen motioned for me to sit in a chair at a table in the dining room. "Sit down. I need to talk to you. I just got a call from Atlanta about you. You failed the psychological profile test, and I need to know why. The home office is concerned about the type of employee you are."

I stared at him. I had hated that stupid test. I'm an English major. I see the world in shades of gray. The test forced me to answer in black and white answers, and I had trouble responding to almost all of the questions.

Glen read a question to me. It was about a man who had been with a family-owned company for about twenty years. He started to take about fifteen dollars out of the register at the middle of the month and would replace it at the end of the month.

Glen looked at me.  "As manager, what are you going to do with this employee, Lori?"

"I'm going to see how I can help him, Glen. Maybe he needs his paycheck sooner in the month. He may have some kind of medical problem and has to pay a bill in the middle of the month that can't wait until the end.  I'll work out a plan with him. He's been loyal to me for twenty years, and he's replacing the money."

Glen's jaw dropped. He shook his head in disbelief.

"No, Lori. You fire him."

"But, Glen! He has problems!"

"Doesn't matter.  You have to answer this test like a business person, not an English major. You can't think outside of what you've been presented. You have to be firm. Fire him. He's stealing from you. You're going to retake this test today, and I want you to answer all these questions like a business person."

I retook the test. I didn't offer mercy to anyone. I fired people. I called the police. I cut hours. I answered all the test questions how I thought a business person would.  I hate to admit it--but I was using the J.R. Ewing stereotype role model of businessmen as my guide.

We submitted the second test to the home office in Atlanta.  I blew the top off of it. My grade was a high A.

Thank goodness God doesn't treat me like a businessman!  I need all the mercy and love He shows me every day. 
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Lord, Thank you for your everlasting mercy and love.