Moral Dilemma

What would you do to keep your job? Lie? Treat someone disrespectfully? Pretend someone was your friend? Withhold information? I mean, it's your livelihood, right? Your family comes first. Even if your integrity must be sacrificed?

A wise woman told me that "self preservation is the first law of nature." I guess keeping your job could be seen as needing to survive.

A friend of mine just lost her job in a very hurtful way. She had worked there for years and had always done her best. She noticed a change in her compensation on her paycheck. No one explained it to her beforehand, they just did it. When she questioned it, all communication stopped between her and the other staff members. Her questions were not answered. Then one day she reported for work and her key did not fit the lock. That's how she learned of her termination. Well not exactly. They let her work the whole day and then told her. Nice.

My point is that she considered one of her coworkers a friend, and that "friend" knew what was going on and said nothing. Did nothing. She wanted to keep her job.

This is not the first I've heard of employers expecting employees to "keep quiet" and "be loyal to the company." I'm not talking about a human resources staff member. They sign up for that. I'm talking about having any kind of trust between coworkers. I'm talking about an oppressive work environment where speaking up means losing your job. What makes me sad is that this nasty disease is all too common, and spreading.

Lawrence Kohlberg conducted a well-known study of moral development in which participants were asked to give a test to a willing volunteer and administer a shock when the volunteer gave the wrong answer. With each wrong answer the shock intensified. Some people administered shocks until they thought the volunteer died. (they weren't real shocks, but the participants did not know that) Others flat out refused. Where are you on that scale? Would you simply follow directions or would you question authority?

I can hear the other side. "We have to keep the business afloat." "If we're open and honest with everyone they will take advantage." Please, just stop. You can fire or lay off people. Just do it directly. Don't let someone find out when their key doesn't fit the lock or they can't get into their computer. (unless the person has broken the law or something) And don't just start cutting back their hours, finding fault with them, or other indirect and disrespectful methods. Just say it. Just do it.

It's noble to stand up to your employer if you are asked to lie, cheat, steal, or any other behavior that feels wrong to you. And there may be consequences. Or you just might educate them. But in today's economy, many feel there is no choice. You always have a choice. You know the right thing. Just do it.

Where were you on 9/11/01?

Do you remember how you felt after the attacks on 9/11/01? I remember the shock, the horror, the tears, and the fears. I went to work and we were all so stunned we could barely focus. I think we were released early. I went to the prayer chapel at Calvary Community Church. We prayed and did what we could to help anyone we knew who was personally impacted. Then I went home, watched the news, and cried.

And I wondered. Who did this? Is it just the beginning of more attacks? Could any of those people have survived, and will they turn up alive? Did President Bush have any inkling something like this might happen? How will he respond?

We all tried to process it in our own ways. I wrote a song called "Now More Than Ever" about turning to God. "Walk us through the valley of the shadow of death, you have not failed, you will prevail. Safe in your arms you hold your own, waiting for us to come home." I felt a camaraderie with all Americans. We held hands in church and prayed. There was more kindness, less harshness, less divisiveness, more acceptance.

Where is that camaraderie now? I thought the Bush-bashing years were a season that would pass. Then the Obama bashing accelerated. Now there's sort of a universal bashing going on that is not just limited to politics. Katie Couric said it well, "Our culture has become very vitriolic, where there is some kind of perverse pleasure in seeing people fail. And now there are so many more outlets to spew that vitriol." We can't blame the media. The outlets -- Facebook, Twitter, etc. -- are not monitored. People are speaking their minds. I see some love. And I see too much blame and hate. Where is that going to get us?

I really understand that there is a lot of disagreement about what is best for our country, and the great thing is we are free to disagree. A lot of people speak out because they are passionate about wanting what is best for Americans. But that's just the thing -- lots of folks are speaking -- but is anyone listening? Do you listen to someone who respectfully disagrees with you? Do you consider that most of us truly want the same things, but don't agree on how to accomplish the task? Yes, it's important whom we choose for our president. However, there are more than 300 million Americans. And one president. Who is truly in power here? We are. Are we going to use our power to spread love or hate? Wisdom or ignorance? Unity or division?

9/11 showed me that the majority of Americans want to unite against evil. Love and compassion can triumph over petty disagreements.

I wish I'd written the ultimate 9/11 song. But that's ok that I didn't. Alan Jackson did. So I looked this up today and watched it. And I remembered. I will always remember. Faith, hope, and love are some good things He gave us -- but the greatest is love.

The Joy of Google

I've been wondering why my paragraph breaks don't show up on my blog posts. After trying to solve the problem myself and sending a "help" request to blogspot, I decided to just type "how do I insert paragraph breaks in blogspot" into Google's search menu. Voila! From the menu bar on the right side of my screen, click "Options" and select "show paragraph breaks." Done!

Now I am writing this blog to check if it works. I don't really have much else to say today. Let's see if it works.

Success! It worked! No more airtight blogs. I can break it up as my muse directs going forward. Happy weekend everyone!