work it out wednesday: caca ethics

Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone.

If your time to you

Is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'.

~dylan

Adam Wheeler -Jesse James -John Edwards

Tiger Woods -BP - Wall Street - Lawrence Taylor -Richard Blumenthal

lying, cheating, fraud, misrepresentation, negligence, unethical behavior. the news is fraught with stories highlighting the gross moral decay of everyone from our political leaders to our corporations, our athletes to our celebrities. and once caught with their proverbial, or in come cases…real pants down…oh the excuses. “i’m a sex addict", "i couldn’t help myself.” “that was taken out of context .” “i swear i didn’t know i wasn’t supposed to fondle the altar boy.”

take blumenthal'. even now, it's not as if he's exactly apologizing for misrepresenting his record, he's sticking to the claim that he "misspoke" a few times, and that he might have had "a few misplaced words."

damn you words! you’re always causing problems for those of us who use you.

and wheeler…had he devoted a fraction of the brainpower and industriousness he put into forging transcripts and stealing college letterhead, he might just have earned a spot at harvard.

so where does ones’ moral decline start and when should one be concerned? does it start with a simple little white lie? yes, i came. no, those pants don’t make you look fat. sure, I got 2400 on my SAT. no, your best friend isn’t a looser. some say ethics is a slippery slope…once you start the slide…you just keep on going.

but interestingly enough even those people careening down the slippery moral slope like boddie miller in 06... those people at least like to claim they are ethical. b/c regardless of whether or not you’d actually stab your grandmother in the back….it generally looks pretty bad to come right out and admit that you'd take perverse pleasure in doing so. but alas folks, it seems the caca has run downhill and run downhill fast. impressive transgressions are happening right here. right now. today i experienced it firsthand!! today an executive who shall remain nameless, came right out and condoned unethical behavior! when questioned as to why he felt it’s ok to steal clients, not communicate with colleagues and then lie about it, he chalked it up to “these times they are a changing”. and believe me he wasn’t saying it with dylan style…he was saying do what needs to be done to improve the bottom line and don’t worry about things like oh, say honesty and integrity. bravo corporate leader…i shall follow you anywhere.

it's bad enough to see these ethical transgressions played out on the 5 o’clock news, splashed across the headlines and jammed down our throats on the radio but to have it played out on ones home turf and by ones own coach…well, it makes me realize just how widespread the caca is... and it is disheartening.  i expect to watch my back when i am out in the world at large but having to watch it internally is flat out crap. so i find myself at a cross road...do i follow the guidance of my leader and let myself be effected by an others poor moral development, fear, insecurity and ill fitting suit, or do i send back love and hope that at some point he gets his ass to higher spiritual ground...

how, you are wondering, do evil corporate suits like this tie into "work it out wednesday" and mr c…??? easy...this situation reminded me how thankful i am that the person i had to deal with is not the person i come home to at night.  praise the good universe above.  it makes me grateful that mr c as incredulous as he was, had the presence of mind to remind me that the only path to happiness is to relinquish anger and give back joy (a tad hard right now but i'm working on it)  and that if we are to quell this decay…if we are to stop the lying, the cheating, the negligence and the rash of other unattractive actions….it must start with ourselves.  thank you mr c for your love and wisdom today....you are a peach!

mrs m