Life Lesson

The Biggest Temptation One Can Say is ‘Don’t Look!’

Those two words almost always arouse curiosity

It’s human nature

Saying, “Don’t look!” to someone more than likely is going to cause them to look, even if they may not have thought to before.

While working at my first full-time job at a promising company, I procured a position as a stenographer. Most of us started in the steno pool with the hopes of eventually finding a position as a secretary in one of the company’s many offices.

Now outdated, stenography was a way for a person to dictate what they would like in a letter, memo, or story, and the stenographer would write in Gregg shorthand using little symbols to be typed up into word format later.

Those of us in the steno pool were always eager to be sent to the offices for dictation, which gave us exposure to various supervisors who might eventually hire us or give us a good recommendation.

We would be sent out if a supervisor didn’t have a secretary of his own, as a fill-in for a secretary when she was on vacation or other leave, or when extra help was needed.

A big opportunity for me

It was finally my turn to fill in for one of the ladies while she was away for a week. I was excited to have the chance to make a good impression for advancement to a permanent position.

I met with this woman before she left for her vacation and was given my instructions for the week, which included bringing the boss coffee, taking dictation, transcribing it into letter or memo form, answering the phones, “and above all else, don’t look in my bottom left drawer.”

All weekend, before I was to start my temporary job, all I could think about was the secret in the bottom drawer. In truth, if she had never mentioned it, I would not have thought to look there, as all the supplies I needed were on top of her desk.

What could she possibly be hiding?

By the third day of filling in for her, I couldn’t resist the temptation anymore. I only intended to open the drawer and take a quick peek. How could I not? What secret does that drawer possess? It was already a long, boring few days, and I had very little to do. What harm could it do to just look?

I was barely 20 at the time. I may have been able to resist if I were older, but not at 20. I looked in the left-bottom drawer. Seriously?! It was a bunch of Avon lipstick samples! The tiny ones they give away for free to customers.

That was the big secret? A small plastic bag of lipstick samples?!

Being familiar with the samples as I had received them before from other girls, I opened two of them out of curiosity and made a little swipe on the back of my hand to see which color I liked.

Looking back now, that’s exactly what she did not want me to do.

I sealed my fate that day.

After I looked at the swatches on my hand, I put one back in the bag and kept the other to use.

They were free samples for potential customers, after all, and I took one. What was the harm?

Caught in the act

When she came back to work the next week, she knew. How she knew, I’m not sure. Maybe she counted them before she left, or maybe there was a smear on the one I sampled, or maybe her boss could see me from inside his office.

She called me over to her desk to confront me, and as I stood there with my lips smeared with one of her light pink Avon lipstick samples, there was no denying it.

I apologized, but it was too late. The deed was done.

Sadly, I was never asked to fill in for any of the other secretaries again because this lady made sure everyone in all the offices knew what I had done.

Relatively speaking, it wasn’t a horrible thing to do, but in hindsight, I realize it was a trust issue, and if she was testing me, I failed miserably.

The older, wiser, more outspoken me would have insisted on knowing what it is she’s being so clandestine about, and I’m sure she would have told me, which would have prevented my ill-fated temporary assignment.

Key Message: 1. Don’t draw attention to something you don’t want someone to see by telling them not to look, and 2. If someone tells you not to look, no matter how big the temptation is — DON’T LOOK!

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