Thomas: Office lizard creates moral dilemma

As the weather continues to warm up more and more some of my scaly friends have begun to show up around the office.

Just today a lizard that darted away from the desk I was walking towards surprised me.

I looked over at the lizard that had stopped once it realized I was not going to give chase. His eyes were fixed on me occasionally glancing around for additional movement.

I proceeded to edit some photos and as I looked down at my foot I saw the lizard had since moved from the open floor and taken refuge atop my shoe, which was propped on the desk leg.

I did not feel him climb on but I noticed when he crawled off, and listened as he made his way to the trash can. Every once and awhile I would hear scratching and then a thud.

The lizard was trying to climb the wall, maybe to get to the warmth of the sunlight in the window. Perhaps he just wanted to see what I was working on; I've always welcomed a second set of eyes while working on photos or stories.

Eventually the lizard made its way up to the phone cord and onto the desk where I believe it still remains. I'll know for certain if Chelsie goes to ring up an ad or paper sale and is startled by the little guy.

I suppose I could go over and pick up the phone book and see if it is hiding behind it, though I'm not certain that would do any good.

The lizard helps to keep the bug population down and has not caused any major problems. Then again there is always the chance it will scare Chelsie when she goes to use the register.

This creates a moral dilemma, do I tell Chelsie about the lizard or let her find out the good ol'-fashioned way. If it startles her I will probably get a laugh out of that, though I'd feel guilty because I set her up for the scare.

It's a small moral decision, which I don't think would have any major repercussions. Though if I allow myself to look the other way disregarding this minor moral issue will it cascade to me allowing larger moral slips?

There are some who would say, "it's the little things which make a difference," while others would say "It's all in good fun."

I've been surprised and startled by a lizard in this office a time or two; one of those times the lizard was running across the ceiling panels late at night.

I'm not quite sure what I am going to do, maybe I'll just tell Chelsie about the lizard that might be on the desk.

Then again, I may ask Chelsie to pick up the phone book and look up a number for me the next time she's at the register.

Thomas Garcia is a senior writer for the Quay County Sun. He can be contacted at [email protected]