I have a moral dilemna and I need advise.

E

edrozen

Joined
Mar 2, 2000
Messages
365
***Please read carefully, your comments will affect my actions. thank you.
I was in the local outdoor-sporting-good-retailer's-store today at around 7:30 PM. And, I was looking at the knives, of course. A young man (age 18, I believe) who I often BS with was showing me some knives. During the course of my browsing, we were comparing the new Boker bowie with the Western Bowie. He started playing around with the Western, and I warned him to stop swinging it around by my hand. Well, guess what. The next thing he does is take a controlled chop at my hand. (While saying, "don't worry, it's not sharp") Extremely irresponsible. He did end up breaking my skin very slightly in my thumb (the cut is hardly more than a tiny scratch), but another milimeter and he would have drawn blood. Anything further would probably have resulted in a very bad accident.

I'd like to know if you (a jury of his peers) think I should let the store manager know this incident occured?

I will check this post tonight and tomorrow afternoon (around 4:00) I may or may not speak with the store manager. Thanks.
 
Well, if that young man is very mature, then any reprimand will be viewed as a learning experience. If he is not (which is what I suspect), then any reprimand will change your relationship forever. Ditto if he is terminated. Today's youth, seem to me at least, more berift of morals, ethics and good judgement. Never mind the fact that these same young people will eventually grow into adults that may or may not become worse with age (and no learning).
 
He's neither very mature nor immature. Honestly, I wasn't really able to read his emotions very well tonight. This is a big part of my dilemna. But he is a pretty intellegent young man (or kid, still not quite sure).
 
Perhaps its me that's immature but I would have smacked him to improve his learning curve. Definitely not funny.
 
I didn't answer your question - talk to the kid rather than the manager if you think the guy will listen and take notice. Talk to the manager if you think the kid is beyond help and will do it again.
 
What he did was highly irresponsible of him and hopefully he learned a lesson from the near accident he caused.Having said that,I feel you possibly could have averted the incident.I assume since he is an employee he was on the opposite side of the counter from you when he started waving the knife around.Since you had time to warn him it sounds to me like you had time to put some distance between you and him.If someone starts waving a knife around any of my body parts,I`m backing off.IMHO,no blood no foul.I`d let it go.

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~Gordon~
 
What were you having an 18 year old put his big western whatchamacallit in your hand for anyway?

But really, fuggeddaboudit! A little too much horseplay doesn't mean he's bereft of morals and ethics. Geez, didn't you do anything wrong on your first job. Me, I drove a golf cart into a lake when I was supposed to be pushing a lawnmower. Some old guy helped me get it out before the greenskeeper found out.

David
 
Talk to the kid, not his manager. Kids do dumb things all the time. Is it really worth the kid`s job? Let him know he did something extremely dumb and, this time, he dodged a bullet. Explain that he won`t be so lucky next time!
 
Of course I screwed up a few times, but never with any limb-severing objects. Yes, he was across the counter from me; and his action was so sudden that I never would expected it. Also, he's been working at the store for a year or longer, so I would think he should know better.
 
I see your dilemna. In some ways I'd be inclined to say no harm no foul. But on the other hand, (given the litigious society we live in today) it's the store owner who's likely to lose his business if this kid strikes again and actually does hurt somebody. I'd probably pull the kid aside, express my displeasure with his actions, and then judge his reaction. If he's legitimately remorseful, I'd let it die.
Anything less and I'd inform the ownership. After all, you did tell him to stop. Just my .02.

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Semper Fi
 
What would you do if he had gone the extra millimeter and drew blood? The management would have probably found out anyway, and I think most of you would feel different. His action would have been exactly the same, only the severity (and luck) of this accident.
 
Talk to the kid and let him know your feelings about what happened. He should get the point. Going to his boss will only lead to negative results.
 
Should have talked to him when it happened. Now forget about it. I wouldn't talk to his manager either unless I saw him being stupid again.

Kris
 
A store clerk swipes your hand with a knife? What did you say after he did it? This a totally idiotic thing for the kid to do with a knife and you should have called him on it right when it happened.Hope he isn't working the gun counter.
Bob
 
What MIGHT of happened and what DID happen are two different things. I would be against going to the kid's boss and saying "he COULD have lopped off my hand". You're right, it could have been worse, but it wasn't.

If I had a store near me- in which I could hang out and handle knives all day- then I certainly wouldn't do anything that might cause a weird vibe for me in there, (unless I was seriously injured I guess) It's probably not worth causing a stir. Just say something to him about it, even if you make a joke of it- just to let him know this kind of mishap does in fact concern you. Next time you go in there and he pulls out a knife for you to see, drop to the floor behind the counter cowering. He'll get the picture- and he probably won't get the feeling he's being "yelled at" either. It would be the kind of gesture that gets your point across to him and still manages to put a smile on both of your faces.

Mistakes happen. You're better off giving him the benefit of the doubt. And if he does manage to hack off a limb- just smile and think of all the free knives you could get....

You seem to know him, so use your judgement. If he's always mishandling knives when presenting them to customers, then you probably should pull his boss aside- after you've spoken to the kid about it. But if this was just an accident because the two of you were horsing around a bit- well hey, stick a band-aid on it and consider it a lesson learned.

Scott
(doing my best Ann Landers impersonation
smile.gif
)
 
Oh man... that's just the same as seeing a salesman point a gun at you and say "don't worry, it isn't loaded"...

Being the knife-knut that we are, I believe we should try to educate these people. We know that a sharp knife is dangerous, but a dull knife even more so. Considering the fact that the kid "knows" that the knife "isn't too sharp", just gave him the confidence to swing it around because he "thinks" that it won't do any harm.

IMHO, maybe you should talk to him, and teach him the finer points about knife-handling. If he's stubborn or anything, then he's a danger to both himself, and to others, then maybe the manager ought to know about it, too.

Just my 2 cents,

Dan
 
Hello Folks,

Let's just say that I am very, very thankful this did not happen to me..... I probably would have pulled him across the counter and jerked a half-hitch in his ass....
smile.gif
I also HATE for someone to point a firearm in my direction....

Now, since you have had time to cool off and think about it, I would suggest that you have a long talk with the young man and very nicely instruct him to never, ever pull this sort of stunt again.....

Just my 2 cents....

Gene
 
If you were the owner/manager of the store, would you want to know?

Imagine if the person who was injured was not a "knife-centeric" person but some sheeple who just stumbled in looking for a little pocket knife for her grandson's graduation present? The resulting lawsuit could put your favorite store out of business and the resulting publicity could further hurt the public image of knives and dangerous weapons.

IMHO, bring it to the manager's attention but do it gently and emphasise how knowledgable this employee is and how much you've otherwise enjoyed working with him in the past. Suggest that dismissing him is not the answer but that the manager should talk to this fellow and perhaps undertake a bit more supervision.



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com
 
I don't know what your relationship is to the guy working at the store, and maybe you two actually don't know each other very well. But as for the hypotheical situation posted above, I don't think the kid would chop at an old grandmother in the same playful manner as he did to you. I would just let the guy know in the light joking way mentioned above. Do you really want an enemy because of this? I understand the what if... concern, but "what if Elian was shot," and "Elian was shot" are two very different scenarios.
 
but then again, you know the guy best. So if he is an irresponsible looser incapable of learning after the age of 12, then you make the call.
 
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