Speak openly chapter 3

The Unclaimed Bonus

Strangely enough, “speaking openly” gradually became a habit in the town. At first, Tom was forced into it by Jack, but later, it was hard to back out, so he just went with the flow. Eventually, he found the benefits of it and got used to it. The townspeople spoke openly, and he handled things openly. Their relationship became more harmonious, and things were done transparently. The townspeople supported him more and more, and he felt more and more satisfied with his job as the mayor. His feelings became even stronger after a disaster happened in a nearby town a year later.

It turned out that after being blocked in this town, Tom’s relative had secretly approached the mayor of the neighboring town and set up the waste decomposition site there. Recently, some kind of waste was brought in, and the toxic gas produced during the burning of the leftovers had knocked out more than a hundred men, women, and children in the town. Even the state – level leaders were alerted. Tom’s relative and the mayor of that town not only had to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical expenses but were also arrested and would probably go to jail.

This incident gave Tom a big scare. If it hadn’t been for Jack’s report, this disaster would have happened in his town. At that moment, he sincerely thanked Jack. He immediately took out $1000 and set up a “Honest Citizen Award,” and sent someone to present it to Jack with great fanfare.

But Jack refused to accept the award. His reason for refusal surprised everyone. He said that he wasn’t the one who reported the waste site. He didn’t even know who the real tipster was. He just thought the report was reasonable and that Tom’s cursing was inappropriate. He thought it was better to stand up and take the blame than to let Tom keep suspecting everyone. Since he was in his sixties, he wasn’t afraid of Tom. He said he couldn’t accept the award without merit, and the $1000 should go to the real tipster.

Tom was very surprised. He then posted a notice at the town entrance, sincerely inviting the tipster to claim the bonus.

A few days passed, and no one came to claim the money. Instead, Tom received an anonymous letter. The letter said that the writer was the tipster but couldn’t come to claim the award. The writer said that although he had reported the incident, Jack’s brave act of speaking openly had played a crucial role. Without Jack, Tom wouldn’t be the way he was today, and the townspeople wouldn’t support him so much. So the award should go to Jack…

Now, in this town, whenever someone whispers secretly, others will say, “Stop whispering behind people’s backs. Speak openly!”