Ethics is Easy

At a Mother's Day dinner with friends, someone told a story about a colleague who did the following.....

He had booked a vacation through a small airline (I will omit names and incriminating details to protect the "innocent").  When he needed to change his itinerary the airline wanted to charge $600.  So this person did a little research about the CEO of the company.  Things like where he went to college, what frat he was in, what interests he had, and who some of his friends were.  He then used this information to call people in the reservations department, impersonated an old friend of the CEO, and got the company to waive the $600 fee.

Upon hearing the story my reaction was essentially, "What an a-hole," and I said so.  I was not met with uniform agreement, and one person said, "I think what he did was wonderful, and I don't see why you have a problem with it."  I was flustered, and could only say, "It just seems wrong, it's....unethical."  To which this person responded, "Yeah, well, you are just so ETHICAL."   As if there were something wrong with it.

This led to a long discussion of right, wrong, ethics, criminality, and the whole gamut of "sin being in the eye of the beholder."  Disturbing on many levels, but if nothing else, thought provoking.

The next day when I left work I noticed that my car (a 2002 Saturn about which I had been agonizing over whether I should sell and graduate to a fancier car, or keep it because it ran well and I don't really care much about cars) had a note on the windshield.  As Maimonides once said, "A note on the windshield is rarely a good thing."  (he said a lot of cool things btw)
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/194459.Maimonides

The note said "Check your left rear fender."  The note also had a man's name and phone #.  Had he not left the note, I would not have noticed that the left rear bumper was dented.  When I walked around to the other side of the car, I saw that the right rear tire had been pushed into the curb and that the rim was dented pretty bad.  I also noticed that the trunk was slightly askew.  The car sounded a little funny, but I was able to drive it home.

I called the note-writer and identified myself as the blue Saturn owner and note recipient.  He told me he was really sorry, that he had made a mistake and hit my car and it was his fault.  He said he would call his insurance company and if it was OK with me, he would call me back and give me the claim number.   I thanked him and then said the next thing that came to mind:  "What you are doing is so.....ETHICAL."

He called me back with the claim number and I called his insurance company the next morning.  The adjustor told me that they would accept 100% responsibility, set me up with a rental car if I needed it, and that I should let them know if I had a body shop so they could evaluate the car there.  I asked the adjustor how often people in this situation leave a note, and he said, "About 10%."

Bottom line:  The insurance considered my Saturn a total and paid me $5000 for it.  MUCH more than I would have sold or traded it for.  I used the rental car while I shopped for new cars, found a great deal, and am now driving a nice new car.

I admit it, I've gotten a lot of mileage out of this story.

Some observations:  More than one person told me that they have experienced people who hit a parked car, go through the motions of leaving a note (because people saw them), but leave phony information. Oy vey.

Some people thought that the story of the airline impersonator was pretty ingenious, though it was hard to imagine someone spending the time and effort to do that.  I add this comment to the mix:  "If you did that, would you brag about it, or would you be embarrassed to tell anyone?"

I think if I hit a parked car I would be in the 10% and leave a note.  That being said, my instinct would also be to look around and see if anyone saw, and I imagine I would at least think it over.

A bit of backstory about my 2002 Saturn:  On the day before Mother's Day I was at home, thinking about whether to look at new cars and sell my Saturn.  At the precise moment I firmly decided to stick with my old car, the Neil Young song "Long May You Run" came on the radio.  I used to think this song was an ode to an old friend, but further research indicates it's about HIS CAR!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nszR0tfp4Es

Long May You Run (Lyrics)

We've been through
Some things together
With trunks of memories
Still to come
We found things to do
In stormy weather
Long may you run.

Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes
Have come
With your chrome heart shining
In the sun
Long may you run.

Well, it was
Back in Blind River in 1962
When I last saw you alive
But we missed that shift
On the long decline
Long may you run.

Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes
Have come
With your chrome heart shining
In the sun
Long may you run.

Maybe The Beach Boys
Have got you now
With those waves
Singing "Caroline No"
Rollin' down
That empty ocean road
Gettin' to the surf on time.

Long may you run.
Long may you run.
Although these changes
Have come
With your chrome heart shining
In the sun
Long may you run.