I feel like most of us have probably been
in some sort of situation in which we have participated in moral muteness,
myself included. Moral muteness occurs when someone fails to voice a moral
concern relating to various situations and issues from day to day life. I have
been in some situations in which I have participated in moral muteness. One
time when I was a hostess at a restaurant, I was working with another hostess
and she was in the process of trying to find another job. She said that she had
an interview for a higher position at another restaurant during the time we
were working together so she told me that she was going to leave for 45 minutes
to an hour. She said if the boss asked where she was to just say she went to
the bathroom or something. I did not really go against this because I was new
and she had been working there for a while before me. It was really slow during
that time any way so it would not matter if she left. She was leaving during
her shift and it obviously was not okay that she was not working but still
getting paid for her shift. She did come back when she said and I did not say
anything to the boss even though I was worked that shift by myself for that
hour.
I think the reason I was morally mute was because I value the relationships I make with my coworkers. I did not want to cause conflict with her or anyone else and wanted my time working there to run smoothly. I was also still fairly new working there compared to the others so I was still working on building those co-worker relationships. I have always valued great relationships with others and try to avoid conflict and I think that during this situation I felt that this was the best was to avoid greater conflict and help her out by letting her go to the interview. Even though what she did was wrong because she was not working but still getting paid for her "time" there, I think I had also factored in the conversations I had with her prior to this where she told me she was not getting paid enough. She was a young, single mother and had a daughter to worry about so I think that is why I did not think much of being morally mute because I was factoring in my values of helping those out who may need it.
I think the reason I was morally mute was because I value the relationships I make with my coworkers. I did not want to cause conflict with her or anyone else and wanted my time working there to run smoothly. I was also still fairly new working there compared to the others so I was still working on building those co-worker relationships. I have always valued great relationships with others and try to avoid conflict and I think that during this situation I felt that this was the best was to avoid greater conflict and help her out by letting her go to the interview. Even though what she did was wrong because she was not working but still getting paid for her "time" there, I think I had also factored in the conversations I had with her prior to this where she told me she was not getting paid enough. She was a young, single mother and had a daughter to worry about so I think that is why I did not think much of being morally mute because I was factoring in my values of helping those out who may need it.
I believe when you work jobs like yours and mine you meet some people who have tougher lives than our own. Personally, I like helping people in any way I can because that is just my nature. I believe I was blessed with a great set of parents who taught me the value of helping others who may be less fortunate. Being morally mute is necessary given certain situations especially when it would help benefit more than 1 person like a child I believe. Sure, I felt bad about being dishonest to the people who hired me, but given my situation I 100% believe I made the correct decision and agree that you made the correct decision as well.
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