Before we go too much further I would like to have a little fun. I am going to test your morals and values with what I call the office desk test.
Below I am going to list a bunch of items commonly found around the office. Now obviously, we are not supposed to steal anything from where we work, but this is where it gets interesting. Quite often we place things in our pockets or someone say’s ‘don’t worry, they won’t care’ in regards to office supplies. But where do we draw the line between stealing and taking something that the office doesn’t care about?
The items I am about to list are in order of expense and size. Please start at the top and work your way down the list. I want you to draw a line (mentally, because if you draw a line on your computer screen or phone you will regret it later) between an item you might have taken and an item you believe is a step too far. If you have never taken anything from an office simply try to judge the situation based on your morals. And finally, if you say ‘I would never take anything as that’s just simply wrong!’ please go out and get a life and continue reading this later J I’m joking in case you can’t tell, in which case look up sarcasm and come back and continue reading.
Jokes aside, please don’t judge yourself harshly on your answer. The world is a more complicated place than you may think. Let’s get started…
A pencil
A pen
One A4 sheet of paper
A stapler
An empty folder
Coffee/tea/sugar or milk.
A pack of 500 sheets of A4 paper
Chocolates (which were given as a gift for the office group)
Alcohol (for parties or a gift for the office team)
Sunscreen (if applicable)
Clothing (if applicable)
A computer mouse
A Keyboard
A desktop computer
A laptop
Money that was left out
A Car
I can already feel the discomfort in some of my reader’s minds. Don’t worry I am not here to judge. That being said the police are coming to your house right now. Just kidding!!! Everyone’s circumstances are very different and these need to be weighed up when viewing such moral dilemmas. In fact, I believe I can convince most of you that dropping the line further down the list is possibly more acceptable than you think. Well, in certain circumstances.
Like most structures, measurements, laws, hierarchies, procedures and even contracts, we can’t anticipate the complications within an individual’s experience. That’s a fancy way of saying that life is not black and white. Drawing a line at 18 years old is easy, though as the years of your life flow onward, staying behind that line becomes increasingly difficult. I am not just talking about office supplies here, this also relates to cheating, hurting someone’s feelings, and to lighten the mood, farting in public. That’s right… I went there.
Next week we will talk about why you drew the line where you did… Thanks for reading…
The Lonely Spaceman 