WilliamJones.info

I was recently asked to describe the hardest ethical dilemma that I was ever faced with. This was the story that I told them.

I was working for a major electronics retail store about ten years ago. During this time, I was going to school and working full-time. While working one evening, witnessed something that brought me face-to-face with and ethical dilemma. I had witnessed a friend take some money from the store’s bank deposit bag. To understand why it was a dilemma for me, I need to start this short story at the beginning.

At the time, I worked with two other coworkers and a manager at the electronics store. The store was a low volume location and did not warrant having more then four people employed there. My coworkers and I became close since there were so few of us. Soon we started getting together after work for activities and soon became a pretty regular routine. All of this transpired over a year, and while we hung out together, we all had only a working relationship with the store manager.

I will call my coworker Joe. One night when Joe and I were closing the store, I heard his cell phone ring. It was his wife and she did not have good news for him. Joe looked upset and worried and went to the back of the store to the office and talked to his wife while all the while he was pacing back and fourth. They talked for a few minutes and he was shaking his head. I only heard him say that he would take care of it and then he hung up his phone. He came back up to the front and asked if he could borrow two hundred dollars from me until tomorrow afternoon. I told him that I only had fifty that I could spare or I would have given him the money. I asked him what he needed the money for and he told me that his baby had some condition and needed to take a certain medicine three times a day. His wife called him to let him know that she just realized that the medicine had just ran out. The baby would go into seizures if it did not get the medicine on time. His wife did not have a car or a job and could not get in touch with her parents. They needed to get the medicine fast. He asked me if I could close up the store while he went to get the medicine and I agreed. I saw him walk to the back office and pick up his coat. He paused at the manager’s desk and picked up the money back for the nightly deposit. He opened the bag, took some money, and closed the bag. As he turned to come toward the front of the store, I looked away and acted as if I was adjusting some product on the shelf. We said good night and he left the store.

I saw Joe take the money; I knew why he took it; And, the manager said to inform him of any suspicious activity or theft. Joe had to do something quickly for his baby, or possibly risk the baby’s life or serious injury. He knew the rules and knew he would get in trouble for his actions if the store’s money were not deposited. Joe would have the money tomorrow afternoon but needed it now. Joe knew that there was a chance that the manager would come in later and not check the deposit, and if that happened, he could put the money back before anyone knew anything. I also knew everything that Joe knew. After taking everything into consideration, I chose to do nothing. I would look the other way and let the natural order of events unfold. I would not get into any trouble since it was Joe who was in charge of depositing the money. If I told the manager I would betray a friend. If someone stole something from the store, I needed to inform the manager. I chose not to inform the manager, because if I were in the exact same position I probably would have done the same thing.

As fate would have it, the manager came in early the next day and I could see that he had checked on the deposit. He did not mention anything to me. When Joe came in the manager called him to the office. They stayed there for nearly an hour with the door shut. Joe opened the door and walked up to me. He said that it has been nice working here and that he would be looking for another job. I asked him what happened and he told me that he took some money from the deposit bag for his baby’s medicine and that the manager found out before he could replace it. He had the money to replace what was taken and gave it to the manager. He also told the manager his story of why he had taken the money and the manager said that he understood. The manager would allow him to quit and would give him a recommendation letter if he needed one. The manager stated that he had to still enforce store policy regardless of the situation. In the end, everything worked out better for Joe. The letter of recommendation from the store manager landed Joe a higher paying job. With his increased earnings, Joe started a savings account and always kept extra medicine on hand. If I were to go back in time, I would not do anything differently.