Don't Shop Zellers
For heaven's sake, is it believable, conceivable, forgiveable that a large company like Zellers, part of the Hudson's Bay Co. could be so heartless as to fire a sole family breadwinner for the sin of making off with products which have been discarded?Hard-hearted? You bet. Consumable merchandise that has been rejected because of stale-dating is destroyed. Yet someone whose children have been denied the pleasures of themselves receiving and consuming chocolates may not take advantage of the fact that they have been removed from public sale.
Picture this: a single father of young children, struggling to make ends meet in a low paying job with a large corporation sees a provocative vision of three boxes of chocolates destined to be returned to the manufacturer as they're beyond their best-before sale date. This man thinks of his children, thinks about the delight on their faces when he presents these chocolates to them, and he succumbs to the allure of spiriting them away, no one any the wiser.
Alas, his unfelicitous exploit is discovered by a manager who informs him that he has violated company policy. Evidently this is company policy, strictly company policy, no interpretation or re-interpretation permitted. Under this company policy it does not matter that the chocolates in question were destined for destruction. Bear in mind that this man's act in deciding to take the discarded chocolates away home with him would bring no cost to the company he worked for. Discipline, that's the word. Unforgiving discipline.
In the true spirit of the season, and with a view, obviously to helping this man, Guy Masse, celebrate Christmas with his children, Hudson's Bay Co. fired this man. He worked in the delivery bay of the St-Hyacinthe, Quebec Zeller's store so his salary would not, in any event, have been particularly munificent. But company policy, you know.
So this single father of three young children now faces a jobless future. What harm was there in his lifting three boxes of discarded chocolates because he wanted to give something special to his children? Might his supervisor not have spoken with him about it, informed him that company policy was unrelenting in this type of thing, and that he should take care in future never to repeat his error? And let it go at that?
Anyone for a shopping expedition at Zellers? How about shopping for some of those delicious boxed chocolates? Forget about yet another family left destitute. Bad things happen at any time, not just at Christmas. Let's hear it for Zellers and Hudson Bay Co., a heritage Canadian company of such sterling repute.
posted by Pieface @ Friday, December 23, 2005
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