If I don't get caught, is it still wrong?

As usual, the best writing (and research) is done by someone else. Someone other than me.  Fortunately for me, there is the internet and I get to see some of the better examples so I can then write about them.

Is that cheating?

And that is what the article [link] is about... cheating.

I am assuming you don't and have rarely, or never, cheated in school, in your job, and in your marriage or other intimate relationship. I am also assuming you are lying about that. Why? Because the article says we all do it. And also why we don't all do it. Or don't do it all the time. Confused? So was I.

Take a breather...

There's a joke about a man who loses his bike outside his synagogue and goes to his rabbi for advice. "Next week come to services, sit in the front row," the rabbi tells the man, "and when we recite the Ten Commandments, turn around and look at the people behind you. When we get to 'Thou shalt not steal,' see who can't look you in the eyes. That's your guy." After the next service, the rabbi is curious to learn whether his advice panned out. "So, did it work?" he asks the man. "Like a charm," the man answers. "The moment we got to 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' I remembered where I left my bike." [from the article]

We all cheat a little, it seems, and some of us cheat a lot. 

I have that "conscience" thing (that "Jiminy Cricket" that sits on my shoulder) that keeps me mostly honest. I am uncomfortable lying, uncomfortable stealing, uncomfortable cheating. Not that I haven't done each of these things but, rest assured, I feel guilty about each instance... and I remember most every instance. When I recall them, I feel my cheeks redden. The guilt lingers, doesn't it?

I have an appropriate anecdote (I think) for this article.

I was sent to a management "evaluation" a couple of times while I was working. This was a series of graded exercises designed to test one's management skills and aptitude. I did well on all but one phase. In that phase, we (the participants) were each given an imaginary subordinate to sponsor for a management opening. Each candidate had a flaw. The idea was not so much to get your candidate promoted (actually, put to the top of the list) but to see how you overcame adversity, worked as an impromptu team, and facilitated a process.  


I was honest about my candidate's troubled history; her termination from her previous employment for insubordination. There was an audible gasp from the panel of managers evaluating our performance. Obviously, my candidate ended up close to the bottom of the list.


I learned then that a manager's job included lying.