When I was a young teenager I ran into trouble at a local supermarket, in Greece. The store detective caught me red-handed, a pack of batteries hidden in my palm.<\/p>\n
That day, I was given a double lesson: always pay for what you want or need, and that second chances arrive, but only once.<\/p>\n
He asked, what would my parents think, if they knew I had taken that battery pack without paying. Would they be proud of me? Would they feel alright seeing me in jail?<\/p>\n
In tears, I responded that they would be devastated. He let me go, after I promised to pay for the item and never repeat this act, ever in my life.<\/p>\n
Today, I had to return that gift, after talking on the phone with a young person in Greece, who failed to pay for a domain at Sedo – twice. I decided to talk to him about values, ethics and how to conduct business. He listened mostly, explained what and how he did it, and why. Then, he apologized for the inconvenience he caused through this online business exchange.<\/p>\n
I can sniff a fake apology versus a real one from miles away, and his was genuine. That’s all I needed, his second chance was wrapped up and delivered, without asking for it. I have no ill feelings left, due to having had the conversation.<\/p>\n
Perhaps I’m just an aging fool, sentimental about my upbringing, and my ailing home country of Greece. Things have changed, people have changed – but damn it, everyone deserves one second chance. I had mine, and now I passed it on.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was a young teenager I ran into trouble at a local supermarket, in Greece. The store detective caught me red-handed, a pack of batteries hidden in my palm. That day, I was given a double lesson: always pay for what you want or need, and that second chances arrive, but only once. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-issues","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n