Play Meter

p~OM THE EDITOR The wallet: a long-term moral T he story of the wallet is one that had a definite impact on my life. It happened one day during Jazz Fest here in New Orleans when my two brothers and my sister were all in town for the festivities from their homes in New Mexico and Virginia. They were anxious to visit my daughter Kim's grave, since they had not been here since she was buried two years ago. My younger daughter, Mindy, and I planned to meet my siblings at a rest stop in Mississippi near the cemetery, since we were all coming from different directions. While we were waiting, Mindy went inside to use the restroom. She came back to the car with a cheap, well-worn wallet that contained about $150 and asked me what she should do. She kept looking at the battered condition of the wallet, saying how bad she felt for whoever had lost it. "Mom, it must have been someone who really needs it," she said. About this time we noticed a couple park their car, quickly jump out, and rush up to the building . They emerged several minutes later looking extremely distressed. Mindy said, "Oh mom, maybe that's the lady who lost it. Go ask her.'' I did. And yes, it was her. She was so happy that tears rimmed her eyes. It turned out that her husband had been out of work for months in South Carolina and they were traveling to Houston, where he had a job waiting. The money in the wallet was all they had to get to Texas and to live on until he started his job. Mindy was as happy as the lady, I think, because she also had tears in her eyes. "I'm so glad she got her money back," she said. PLAY METER 10 SEPTEMBER 1991 I was so proud of Mindy . She could have easily kept the money; no one would would have been the wiser. But instead of thinking of what she could do with the money, she was thinking of who lost it. In the long run-and this is very importantshe received something much more valuable than the money. She was rewarded with a feeling so rich that it exceeded any monetary value. And better still, it's long-term. She'll remember it much longer than anything she could have spent the money on. I asked her why she didn't just pocket the money. Her answer reminded me of how important we are to each other, especially those we care about and have an influence on. She recalled times (some that had already escaped my memory) I had returned money to cashiers who had given me too much change and other times when I stressed the importance of thinking of others and how they feel. She told me that she just figured it was the right thing to do. How often do we truly take the longterm look at things? Not often enough if the following is any example. A manufacturer was upset with us because his game did not appear in our equipment poll. After explanations about how the equipment poll is compiled, he threatened to pull his advertising if it didn't show up the next time. It was a pretty bad game, one many lost money on. I would have been more surprised if it had shown up. However, here was the dilemma. How easy it would have been to include it. Who really would have known? We could have been assured of future ads. Why not? I'll tell you why not. We would have been deceiving those that depend on us for information they can use to run their businesses more profitably . It wasn't the right thing to do. They didn't care about any long-term effects; they wanted to sell those games . Sure this company perhaps would have sold a few more games, but in the long run, everyone who bought the game would have known how bad it really was and wondered how we could have sold out. Not every game is going to be a winner. Manufacturers know that, operators know it, and certainly we know it. Our saying it's good doesn't make it so, it only lowers our credibility if we' re saying it for selfish reasons. On the other hand, another manufacturer wasn't all that happy about something we said about his game. But he was professional about it and I admire him tremendously for that. His ad was proudly displayed in our pages the next month. He even mentioned that if operators read the truth, when something favorable is written, they'll believe it. We have a long-term commitment to the industry. We will have an impact on those we care about. I only hope that our readers have the respect for us and understand that what we write is as close to the truth as we can get. You know what, it really is the right thing to do. D Valerie Cognevich Editor