Ethics, a gift or burden
I was enjoying a super yummy traditional bowl of spicy beef tendon rice noodle soup with a friend over dinner when the topic of “ethics” came up. She was telling me how she had accidentally “scratched” some Tesla’s rear bumper while parking. She wanted to examine the damage however at the sound of the Tesla alarm, she panicked and fled the scene. Few days later the owner filed a police report with my friend’s license plate recorded from the dash cam. The sheriff called my friend for the “hit and run” which freaked her out. Apologizing profusely and admitting fault and eventually the owner forgave her negligence and her insurance took care of the damage.
When my friend mentioned the incident to quite a few of her friends, their immediate reactions shocked her and I. Most of the folks said it is no big deal and some even told stories of how they have also fled from such incidents. However my friend’s own conscience haunted her and she had to start Lexapro meds to sleep well again.
We then talked about another acquaintance of ours who would not have had any trouble dealing with socially “unethical” doings. She loves and hates openly about issues and does not feel bad or self reflect any wrong doings even if most people deemed “immoral”. In some ways I do envy her while wondering how can some people live like comic book villain without conscience.
I feel sad that a lot of people have become self centered and lack integrity and compassion. However are the ones left with conscience necessarily happier with it?
