An Interesting Moral Dilema

[Avocado]

I volunteer at a charity shop in my spare time and have been putting a few extra hours in during my study leave as a constructional break from working and to let my manager have some extra holiday time.
Today a man came in with a handful of posters for the MoscowStateCircus and said that if we displayed the poster in our window we would qualify for two free tickets(worth �20 each)  I replied that I could not give an answer either way as my manager was having a day off, he looked very busy and handed me a poster and two tickets and rushed off. I was the only staff member in the shop at that time and there were no customers. I've never been to the circus and as my boyfriend and I have no money( he was diagnosed with cancer in November and hasn't been working since, and I've been focusing on exams) and I thought it would be a good way of escaping life for a short while at no cost. I pocketed the tickets without thinking. Then I started to feel very guilty.
I don't get paid to work there, however, neither do any of the other volunteers, I don't 'deserve' them any more than any of them. My manager is paid and she would be the one to inform, and benefit, and they were meant for her at any rate(insert feelings of duty here) She works very hard she goes past the call of duty sometimes to keep the shop running.
There was no one there when the man left the tickets, so there was no one to judge my actions - that is the main determinate for the majority of my moral choices How does x action reflect on me and my image as a person. I do not believe in an omnipresent, omni prescient god and it brings up the question: if you do a wrong when there are no witnesses and no victims is it really a wrong?
 

[Mrs_Pegasus]

Artful no I dont think I was adding extra stress!  I responded to the question in a truthful and direct way.  I dont like being accused of causing stress - if people are not prepared for any answer then they shouldnt ask a question.

[netibiza]

but Mrs pegasus - the question wasn't about cruelty to animals - It could have been a cinema ticket, so no need for the cruelty lecture - that's for each of us to decide in out own way.

[Avocado]

wow! thanks for all the responses. It is very interesting to see other pespectives, espeically, jno, woofgang, chompu and angel of death.

I agree, a wrong is a wrong under whatever circumsatnce. I think the reason I class this as such, is because there are so many other people in the shop who could benifit more than myself and it wasn't my call, especially since if my manager had been in, I would have reffered the man to her immediatly.

I also see the point of the people telling me to enjoy them, but I don't really have that kind of relastionshoip with my manager where I could justify taking them if she asked, I don't really like telling people about the cancer. An interesting question would be to change the situation. Let's say it was paid employment, or my boyfriend had a successful job and was healthy. Would the answer be the same? Same action different circumstance.

In the end, I left the tickets and a poster on her desk mentioning that if they weren't going to be used I would apreciate them.

I'll find out her response on Wednesday.

No Mrs. Pegasus, there was no additional stress, and it is a very unique perspective to take, but again, if there were animals, would it have been my call, especially if the charity had benifited? My ethics would have been forced upon another.

[oxeyedaisy]

i wouldnt be able to keep the tickets as i am to honest..and if i did take them i wouldnt enjoy the circus and would feel guilty..i would just tell the manager they were left..as if at anytime the man comes back and asks the manager if she enjoyed the circus then you have a lot of answering to do..okay you dont get paid i worked for the rspca for about 7 years and didnt take a penny ..i did it because i wanted to ..not for reward..you could raffle those tickets off for the charity you work for ..

[Mrs_Pegasus]

netibiza I added the bit about animals to maybe give Avocado another perspective on their dilema.  It wasnt meant to be a lecture, most lectures I have been to tend to go on a couple of hours!  Unfortunately, these types of forums make it difficult for 'light' comments to be detected and I certainly didnt want it to sound like a lecture.

my apologies to anyone who have either been stressed or feel lectured by my comments!

[netibiza]

mrs pegasus - I do however agree with you re animals in circus'.

[londondave]

Avpcado

Let us know the outcome, I hope you get to go.

[Sasha13]

oxeyedaisy... I found �300 in a wallet that had no ID in it when I was 15 and handed it into the police - even though no one had seen me find it. Does that mean that because I would have taken the circus tickets in this circumstance that I'm dishonest?? The tickets in question were given to Avocado she isn't stealing someone's personal property. After all the guy giving out the tickets could have insisted on speaking to the Manager and giving them to her personally if he felt that strongly about it... or not left tickets until the he had proof that the poster was going to be displayed. In any case, I'm sure that everyone will agree that Avocado's course of action was a good one, and I hope you both get to go too!! Just to add by the way, if I had been a co-worker of Avocado's and had discovered that you had received and kept the tickets, I wouldn't feel hard done by... I'd just have wished that I'd been working on that day instead!

[banana]

The tickets were in 'payment' for showing the poster.
You could have taken the poster and the tickets - put the poster up in your own window and gone to the circus. No-one loses out.

[El D]

How about putting the poster up in your house window and using the tickets :)

For what it's worth, I think you have made the right decision for 'you'. If she has two brain cells she will let you use the tickets.

Also as an aside - your decision to let others judge and determine your worth is a curious one - is there any reason in particular why they operate from a superior moral position?

[artee]

Avocado... I am so pleased you made that decision. It sounds to me as though you allready knew what you would do. Were you testing 'us' perhaps? (And as El D says are we superior in any way)?  Perhaps you were enticed for a moment and needed reaffirming ... Wopuld love to know ...

[Avocado]

I just like hearing different people's perspectives on the matter, everyone grows up in a completley different environment which different moral codes and beliefs. I'm aware that I do have an overpowering sense of guilt for some actions and I guess I posted to see if it was an irrational sense of guilt or a valid one. I also have a tendency to over analyse things and posting I think was a good way of sorting my thoughts out and gettin gnew pespectives from people who are not in the middle of the situation.

[artee]

I appreciate your answer Avocado. Thank you.

[Avocado]

I did get the tickets and the circus was absolutley amazing, the clowns were a bit unneccesary as they brought the tone of the whole thing down, but I guess they have to please all audiences.

 

Thanks to everyone for posting, it was most interesting, and helped me to get things straight in  my head without any unneccesary emotional attachment which tends to be associated with such dilemas.

 

Thanks

[jno]

glad you enjoyed the show!