Anita's Notebook

Jennifer sent me an interesting (and kind of funny) story written by Theodore Roosevelt recounting an incident that happened during his cattle-ranching days:

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A number of years ago I was engaged in cattle-ranching on the great plains of the western United States. There were no fences. The cattle wandered free, the ownership of each being determined by the brand; the calves were branded with the brand of the cows they followed.

If on the round-up an animal was passed by, the following year it would appear as an unbranded yearling, and was then called a maverick. By the custom of the country these mavericks were branded with the brand of the man on whose range they were found.

One day I was riding the range with a newly hired cowboy, and we came upon a maverick. We roped and threw it; then we built a little fire, took out a cinch-ring, heated it at the fire; and the cowboy started to put on the brand.

I said to him, “It is So-and-so’sbrand,” naming the man on whose range we happened to be.

He answered: “That’s all right, boss; I know my business.”

In another moment I said to him: “Hold on, you are putting on my brand!” To which he answered:

“That’s all right; I always put on the boss’s brand.”

I answered: “Oh, very well. Now you go straight back to the ranch and get what is owing to you; I don’t need you any longer.”

He jumped up and said: “Why, what’s the matter? I was putting on your brand.”

And I answered: “Yes, my friend, and if you will steal for me you will steal from me.”

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Lol! Guess that cowboy was working for the wrong boss, no doubt he eventually found one that was more than happy to have their brand put on no matter where the calf was found. Roosevelt had a good point though and the principle central to his story has been something I’d seen in my working life as well, not as a boss but as a co-worker.

Often the co-workers I noticed to be so proud of stealing from a particular workplace (like stuffing their pockets with coffee packets meant for hotel guests and then offering to stuff my pockets as well) ended up being the same people that were caught or strongly suspected of stealing from the rest of us co-workers.

One new person could transform a break room where it was safe to leave a pack of cigarettes or a few dollars in a coat pocket into one where you wondered if even your coat would be missing when you came down for the next break. Kleptos!