Most corporate ethics scandals you’ll ever read about focus on a few certain areas: proprietary knowledge misuse, sexual harassment, or improper use of company resources. However, even if a multi-million Enron settlement is not in the cards for a whistle blower, today we ask if even the smallest ethical transgression is worth reporting.
After all, who the heck doesn’t like blowing a whistle? (Why do you think referees choose that career path? It sure isn’t for the friends they’ll make.)
Part of getting a sandwich in our office cafeteria requires standing patiently while your entrée is assembled, and this is an excellent opportunity for people watching. All types dine downstairs, from the executives who hardly look up from their Blackberries while somehow managing to construct an expert tossed salad (they teach you this in MBA school), to the nervous intern who is totally loving the all-you-can-eat mentality of a buffet line while not yet comprehending that pay-by-the-ounce adds up damn quick.
In addition on one idle Wednesday, we have our subject.
A woman in her early-thirties, most likely a mid-level contracts associate or something, was struggling to get through the café as quick as humanly possible. These types have no time for waiting, and you can tell when they choose one of those pre-packaged subs out of the refrigerator case, totally cool with the fact that they cost 40 cents more than if you waiting in line like yours truly. In addition to her sandwich, which she tucked under her left arm, she’s got a bag of Sun Chips (good taste), and apple, and to wash it all down, she reaches to the top shelf of beverage case and hauls in a 20 oz. bottle of what else – Mountain Dew.
Despite what the Dew ad wizards want you think, Mountain Dew contains the same molecular structure as any other soft drink. It is served cold, carbonated, and caffeinated. You don’t get special powers from it, other than succeeding in avoiding coffee for another day. Mountain biking connotations aside, it’s a normal, inanimate concoction.
Or not.
In her rush to exit the café and simultaneous juggle the various components of her lunch, our subject’s grip on the Dew slips and the bottle falls to the floor. Now this wouldn’t be a big deal in most cases. Maybe the three people in closest proximity to you notice as you reach down and pick up your now highly agitated Dew. You continue with your day, being ever so careful in its opening, and drink it. Very Slowly.However in this case, it’s not that simple. As she dropped the Dew mid-walk, the bottle did not hit the floor. Instead, it struck her ever-advancing right foot.
Rather, her foot struck it.
The bottle proceeded to sail across the café floor, caroming off the leg of a startled exec and then spun to a standstill, much like a football in an endzone.
While all of this is presented in the name of hilarity, no ethical guidelines have been bent or broken to this point. Of course, I’m probably rambling and delaying my point.
She returned the bottle to the case with a Post-It on it that said, “shake up.”
3 questions...
1) Is this an ethical practice to replace your volcanic soda-to-be with a new one, since you are paying for it?
2) Couldn’t she have come up with something a little more coherent? Shake up? Really?
3) Who carries Post-It notes in their pocket?
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