Ethics at Work - To Have or To Have Not

Right now, a household member is very grateful he recently got a job driving a cab. That's the good news. The bad news is that he could lose it any day now because he refuses to cheat passengers. Taking a passenger the "long way around" to boost the fare for the trip is called "long hauling." On one hand, taxi regulating agencies forbid it, and most reputable cab companies say in public that they do not encourage it. The truth is somewhere in between.

If he doesn't make $200 a day in fares, he will be dropped. But to get that, he must be on the street for 12 hours. As a newbie, he's an "extra" and sometimes is only on the street for 8 hours; he is also subject to the less-reliable cabs and often loses another hour or two taking a disabled cab back to the yard and getting another, with all the appropriate paperwork involved. To get out of being an extra and to get on the street for a full 12 hours in a reliable vehicle, he must make that $200 a day. It's a Catch-22.

Some of the guys who started the same time he did have caved in and have started long-hauling. I am glad, as much as the household needs that money, that he refuses to do it. He's 53, I call him my nephew because I helped raise him, and things will be difficult if he is fired for low booking. Still, it will work out, I'm sure.

Ethics in the work place are tricky. I have worked all my adult life and have never had the luxury of having anyone support me after I left home at 18 to get married (another story), until about two years ago. In all that time, I have run into many situations where breaking the rules was common and I was looked on as either a fool, a sucker, or "miss goodie-two-shoes." Somehow, I managed to hang on and not give in.

Father, thank you for the gifts of the Spirit that helped me to be honest at work; forgive me for all the other things I do wrong, but thank you for helping me avoid this pitfall.