Sarah Warsi

Today, I came across a video that, while amusing, was a good reminder to never lose sight of doing what is right and honest.

In the video below, talkshow host Ellen calls out a guest for breaking the rules of taking only one free gift backstage. Her team had set up hidden cameras to see how many people would actually comply with the one-gift-per-person policy and sure enough practically everyone obliged – except for this lady.

The video comically shows Nancy mischievously taking more than one item and then later returning to the table to exchange a stolen item for something else. I’m sure that while she was engaging in this, a voice in her head probably told her it was wrong but she thought she could get away with it – as most of us do. After all, no one is catching you in the act, so it must be okay right? Wrong. As the saying goes, if you keep playing with fire, you will eventually get burned.

I can only imagine how embarrassing it was for her to have been ousted on camera, but it goes to show you that you should never assume that you can get away with wrongdoing without consequence. And Ellen made another good point when Nancy excused her actions because her sister couldn’t come: she replied that many people in the audience couldn’t bring other family members – it doesn’t give them a free pass to take more than their supposed too.

So the moral of the story is two-pronged: 1) don’t take advantage of another person’s generosity and 2) honesty is always the best policy – it trumps getting embarrassed on national TV any day.

Here’s a clip of the video.