if you do shady stuff....

do you get your shoes back?

So here's what's driving this question. A nice guy, by all accounts, is befallen by physical misfortune and becomes seriously, though not critically injured.

"It's a terrible thing, what has happened to him," we all say.

We e-mail him, call him and send over our best wishes for a speedy recovery. Days pass and there is no word from our fallen comrade, so we re-up our efforts and send another round of wishes and inquiries as to when he'll return to our fold. He writes us back individually saying that he's "turned a corner" and is on the up and up.

"Well, that's encouraging!" we say. "He'll be back after the weekend and we'll all help him get back on track."

The days stretch on and then the communication cuts off completely. We listen to the proverbial crickets, worrying all the while that the head injury he has suffered is perhaps much more serious than anyone thought and that no such "corner" has been turned. No reply, no proactive communication on his part.....what is going on, we wonder?

And then comes the shady part. Now I am in no position to judge his physical condition. I did not see him after his "accident", nor did I speak to him, so I have no way of verifying whether he was actually hurt or whether the whole thing was a clever ruse. What was a ruse, however, was the amount of time he spent convalescing on the company's dime.

Turns out that while our friend was sucking off our our sympathy, unearned vacation time and pay, he was actually out looking for a new source of gainful employment. Prospecting, interviewing...the whole thing. Shady. So the point of my original question lies here: there are many of his personal effects still adorning his workspace, including a drawer full of shoes. Nice shoes. Cole Haan and Kenneth Cole business shoes, Nike runners and the like. Knowing what I do about men and their shoes, I would say this probably comprises a large chunk of his shoe collection.

But if you deceive people who are concerned about you and trying to help - if you take advantage of their compassion and concern in order to suck off of your employer and get paid to look for another job.....do you get your shoes back?