“Don’t try to be different. Just be good. To be good is different enough.”
–Arthur Freed

Yesterday, my wife was a little bit frustrated. Amanda had ordered a glowing unicorn for our daughter’s birthday which had not yet arrived. Amazon claimed that it had been delivered but we had not seen it.

Calm, but a bit miffed, Amanda went through the process of having another unicorn one sent out to us. Shortly after going through the hassle of contacting Amazon and resolving the issue, we found the gosh-damned unicorn. As is almost always the case, Amazon was right; the Horrell’s were wrong.

It was a $12 unicorn. Amazon had already agreed to replace it. No one would be the wiser if we just let things be. It would have been easy for Amanda to have a good laugh at herself and everyone go along with their busy lives.

Besides, is $12 really going to affect the financial well-being of a monster like Amazon?

Would a $12 glowing unicorn really affect the prospectus for the upcoming quarter or affect the stock value of its investors?

Was it Amazon who would eat the cost of the unicorn?

Was it the seller who would suffer the small loss associated with the cost of doing business?

It made no difference. The discussion that Amanda and I were having had no bearing on her actions. She had already made the decision. She said, “I don’t care whose $12 it is. All I know is that I made the mistake and I’m giving it back to someone so that I don’t have to carry it around in my conscience. The bottom line is, it’s not my $12.”

Amanda got on the phone with Amazon. She spoke to one person who transferred her to another who transferred her to another who transferred her to another. The person that she ultimately spoke to was eventually laughing with Amanda over the telephone. It seems that no one in her department really knew how to handle the situation because nobody ever calls to tell them that a mistake has been made, after the fact.

As we laid in bed that evening, Amanda’s email pinged. It was a custom-written letter from the lady Amanda spoke with at Amazon who wanted to say “thank you for your honesty in returning the $12 and for asking me how my day was going.”

It seems like a little honesty and a dash of courtesy is something so uncommon that someone would be willing to send a “Thank You” letter.

I guess if I want to be different, I could try to be good.

Peace, Love, and all things Beef related,

Beefcake