Gross acts?

Gross acts?

In spite of good education, exposure to various places, with
conscious knowledge of what is good and what is bad, what is
ethical and not ethical, most people indulge in small gross acts
which cannot be called crimes or deadly sins.

A teacher takes some chalk or a marker home. She thinks it
will not cause a big loss to the organization. A teacher should
teach ethical values to her students, but when she herself
indulges in such petty acts, what can it be named as?

If a teacher indulges in such acts, how many executives who
stay at five-star hotels have the habit of bringing hotel items
home? No one has the compunction for their acts and think that
the heavy rates paid for the rooms justifies their action.

Most staff have the habit of making personal calls during work
hours. Personal matters during office hours are, of course, an
offense. Some staff have the habit of taking calculators, diaries
and other office equipment home. Many executives take their
friends to restaurants for lunch or dinner. They get the
justification from the office, saying that they gave business
lunches. With transportation, some office workers come to work by
bus but they claim for cab fares. All these are petty acts but
are they not an offense committed for our personal pleasure.

Various people indulge in gross acts like this. If we start
counting such things then it would go up to the level of
infinity. Such gross acts cannot be called crimes or deadly sins.
But of course these are mistakes committed by all classes of
people. If attention is paid to these small mistakes then bigger
mistakes in the future could be cured.

UMA RAMAKRISHNAN

Jakarta