Today I slapped a bargain price tag on a mis-shelved art book. I
committed fraud. Simply put, I did something "wrong." I'm not quite sure
why I did it, but it wasn't the first time. It's a little "trick" I
learned in my mis-spent youth.
I guess I wanted to see if I'd get away with it. You see it's an easy
trick to pull. Just peel the bargain sticker off of one book and replace
the sticker on another. If the cashier "catches" the discrepancy, you
plead ignorance. "Uh, I found it over in the bargain section." Then, if
the real price is discovered, you can simply inform the cashier that
you're no longer interested in buying the book. For some, what I did
was evil, perhaps even a crime.
Later in the day I retrieved a set of keys from the floor that had
fallen out of an elderly woman's pocket. I politely returned the keys
and went about eating my lunch. It was really nothing, and she probably
would have found the keys on her own. For some, what I did was kind,
perhaps going so far as calling it a "good deed."
The fallacy we fall into is that neither of these actions "defines" who
I am. I'm both good and evil. It's too easy to judge each other and miss
the bigger picture. As uncomfortable as it makes some people, there is
rarely any situation that is black or white; good or evil. It simply is,
and only when we wish to be morally lazy do we find solace in placing
simple names on complex situations.
committed fraud. Simply put, I did something "wrong." I'm not quite sure
why I did it, but it wasn't the first time. It's a little "trick" I
learned in my mis-spent youth.
I guess I wanted to see if I'd get away with it. You see it's an easy
trick to pull. Just peel the bargain sticker off of one book and replace
the sticker on another. If the cashier "catches" the discrepancy, you
plead ignorance. "Uh, I found it over in the bargain section." Then, if
the real price is discovered, you can simply inform the cashier that
you're no longer interested in buying the book. For some, what I did
was evil, perhaps even a crime.
Later in the day I retrieved a set of keys from the floor that had
fallen out of an elderly woman's pocket. I politely returned the keys
and went about eating my lunch. It was really nothing, and she probably
would have found the keys on her own. For some, what I did was kind,
perhaps going so far as calling it a "good deed."
The fallacy we fall into is that neither of these actions "defines" who
I am. I'm both good and evil. It's too easy to judge each other and miss
the bigger picture. As uncomfortable as it makes some people, there is
rarely any situation that is black or white; good or evil. It simply is,
and only when we wish to be morally lazy do we find solace in placing
simple names on complex situations.
