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By Susan C. Price
The following made me think that:
a. what is so simple to me is NOT CLEAR to many,
b. maybe none of this...life...is simple,
c. i have no business discussing ethics....
What would YOU have decided?
- President of Penn State: “Hmmm, should this guy continue molesting boys...or?”
- A Religious Bishop: ”Hmmm, should i let this guy go on having access to young people, when i have credible information that he has violated them, or should I expel him, or call the cops?”
- Steubenville Teens: “Hmm...does it matter that the girl was drinking…when i violated her body...and took off all her clothes?” “What makes a great video to pass along?”
More urban parking “moral” dilemmas:
i told the tale of neighbors in a congested urban apartment area who (assumption) fraudulently obtained an “exclusive” handicapped curbside parking space.
Here’s another parking choice. I take a Zumba dance class twice weekly on a weekday morning.
- The dance studio is on a commercial block with metered (pay) spaces.
- The dance studio has a small free parking lot, but cars must park in “tandem” (you need to be ready to move to let others out. a pain).
- Around the corner is a residential block of apartments/condos with street parking that is only restricted on Thursdays and Fridays.
Now I notice that the dance studio requests we use the paid/metered parking everyday, instead of the residential neighbors public street parking.
HMMM? What is fair?
If you live in an urban area, and you have limited parking that belongs to you, should visitors to your area NOT park on the “public” street if they can avoid it?
Ethics? Self preservation?—At what point should a neighbor “report” a neighbor to "the authorities"? When is it appropriate or safe to “tattle”?
The neighbors (same ones as got the handicapped space, natch) are “hoarders.” Building service folk who visit their unit, neighbors who have delivered their vacation mail, and, once, the local Public Health official, deem their piles of stuff that fill their front hall and the rest of their apartment and patio...to be a “fire hazard.” The building owners don’t report them...Rent Control is strict here, the tenants would allege they were being forced out/harassed for no reason, and it could be a long and fruitless battle.
I live right above them. Were a fire to occur (they do not smoke…nor have a fireplace), I would likely be first and most affected.
Do I have a self preservation duty to report them to Public Health? I don’t think this rises to the level of “real and imminent danger.” What do you think?
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Copyright © 2013 by Susan C. Price
| Please comment |
I wonder to WHOM the right decision in the first three cases isn't clear? Institutional depravity of course continues, as does that of hormonally driven, peer-approval-seeking adolescents, of whatever age. But it isn't right, and never will be; the depraved will continue to be correctly judged depraved, however "natural" some degree of depravity may be.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Penn State and the Catholic church, it seems ethics were based in protecting the institution, no matter what sort of crimes and abhorrent behavior had to be covered up to accomplish that goal. While that is nothing new, allegedly responsible and professional adults in positions of power making decisions like that, still casts a whole new meaning on depravity.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Steubenville teens: the criminal charges against the rapists are a good first step - now how about some charges against the people who continue to give alcohol to the under-aged drinkers? And how about hiring some competent counselors and allowing them to actually give real-world advice to teens who live in the real world, where under-age drinking and drugs are part of life. It is intriguing that no adult ever lived in a real-life version of "Andy of Mayberry" world, yet they seem to imagine that they did, and that their children do.
If the hoarders don't pose a "real and imminent danger" then it seems questionable to go there. They might retaliate by launching a campaign against Zumba parlors on the basis they could be fronts for prostitution, as in Kennebunk, Maine. Or worse, that Zumba may lead to the comeback of disco.
Reader(s): Sorry I had to delete the first attempt. The translation from Word to Blog was slightly depraved...
very amusing..the front part of their apartment..is a hallway..and the Health Dept cited them cus the stuff made the hallway not freely passable by a fireperson..also, the plumber commented that he had to spend 30 minutes cleaning stuff (what!!how many old shampoo bottles could there be? before he could fix the drain..etc.etc. its Susan, i just can't figure out the "name/url" i'm sure that morris will explain it
DeleteSusan, when you select the "Reply as" option labeled "Name/URL," you're shown two fields, a "Name" field and an "URL" field. Put your name in the first, and leave the second blank (specifying an URL is optional).
DeleteOr, of course, activate your Google ID....
Susan, I should also have said thanks for commenting! I'm glad that your confusion over the "Name/URL" option didn't prevent you from doing so.
DeleteI'm delighted that your column provoked so much comment.
I was glad to have been reminded of all of the things that people in my neighborhood have complained about their neighbors doing, and I didn't even mention not picking up the poop in their OWN yards!
By the way, I happen to know about the things residents here complain about, because soon after we moved in in 2008, I created a social network website, and it is on that site that the various complaints have been registered. Apparently, people seem to think that complaining on the website is an effective way to deal with the problem they're complaining about. Unfortunately, the opposite seems to be more likely—at least, if the neighbors of whom they're complaining have also joined the website, in which case those neighbors more often than not get huffy and defensive and the conflict simply escalates. Interesting.
I live by one very simple rule. You have the right to do whatever you want to do; however, that right stops where another person's rights begin.
ReplyDeleteIf what the people are doing below you affects your right to feel safe; then they have crossed their line of being in their rights.
Rape is way across that line. Women, kids, or men have the right to feel save; from all things. Anyone who takes that right away is in the wrong and anyone who could have stopped it and did nothing is also in the wrong.
I have no problem walking up to someone and asking them to stop. If after that they still don't stop---I call the cops. If there is hell to pay later, so be it. Everybody has rights, but if you give up yours, the odds are you will never get them back.
I was going to comment on the hoarders situation too. I tend to agree with Konotahe on this, but it might be better to go to the police (or other pertinent authority) FIRST. At least that has been suggested in the residential community where I live because many of the residents are leery of provoking their neighbors by direct confrontation. Of course, the police (or other authority) must be willing to keep it confidential who tipped them off.
ReplyDeleteOkay folks, devil's advocate here: How exactly do "piles of stuff" pose more of a health or fire hazard than equal amounts of handmade quilts from grandma, and collections of books and magazines? Is one person's "stuff" to be considered hoarded junk because it is stacked on a coffee table where they actually look at it from time to time, while another person's isn't because it is stacked on shelves or in a closet, where no one ever sees it? Flammable material is flammable material - do people who live in multiple floor buildings also need to give up extra clothes and soft furniture, and buy only canned goods instead of boxed, and throw out all paper-based reading materials at the end of every month? If you go down this road, how long before you have to say goodbye to the Shakespeare collection?
ReplyDeleteAs if you don't know the differences Nice try, but if you are trying to start a debate you will have to do better than that, (smile--laugh--cough)
ReplyDeleteNope, not trying to start a debate. But you really don't think a bunch of vintage Shakespeare tomes, especially those covered in dust since the last time someone actually read them, will burn just as quickly as a pile of your 'Easyriders' magazines from 1989? And those slinky Zumba dance outfits, fire starters for sure. While I agree some people will pile "stuff" to a dangerous level, I also see a danger in the tidiness police. And don't a lot of high rises have dozens of cars parked in the basement?
ReplyDeleteI don't believe fire is as much of a problem as health. We all have a little junk--me a lot less---due to the move. There is a point where the junk stops being a keep-sake and becomes a health hazard. And if you had piles of Zumba dance outfits stacked on top of your Hustler mags which filled a room and let out a sour mildew smell. With rat dropping through out your house. I would say that is more dangerous than my well kept collection of "Easyrider".
ReplyDeleteOkay--you win. You pulled in me like a fish on a hook.
Much as I would like to up the ante, your morass of Hustler mags and rat droppings wins. I give up. And I will go home and clean up my mess: want a good deal on every Outside magazine printed in the '90s, even the special editions?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the offer. I had a collection of Mother Earth. They were among the first things to go as we down sized our life.
ReplyDeleteDo I need to point out that what might appear hazardous to a person is up to that person to judge? The ethical question pertains, it seems to me, only to what the person might do about the perceived hazard. Keep silent? Talk to the people perceived to represent the hazard? Call the police or other authority?
ReplyDeleteAnd besides the purely ethical question is the practical question, Which action might be most effective in achieving the desired end—the removal or lessening of the perceived hazard? Confrontation could backfire and worsen the situation, as could calling an authority if the authority can't keep confidential who called them. Keeping silent definitely won't achieve the end.
First: there is a differences between talking to someone about a problem and confrontation. If the person is unreasonable, you walk away. Second: if whatever this person is doing has caused you concern, I'm sure it has also caused concern with others. Sometimes it is better to go through an elected official and have him/her contact the police. There are many ways to deal with a problem like this. There is always power in numbers.
ReplyDeleteAh, good suggestion, to go through yet another third party (such as an elected official) and have him or her contact the police. As for "power in numbers," what about rounding up a dozen or so others in the area and all of you go en masse to the door of the "offender"? Have you had any experience with that? And does it help if you all a wear white sheet?
DeleteOnly if the sheets have a hood. All kidding aside; going to anybody's house as a mob is never a good idea. I have used both approaches. Personal contact and elected official. It does do the job with little conflict.
ReplyDeleteOf course, my white sheets comment was a joke, although that's really not a joking matter, is it, the connotations with the organization in question?
DeleteI think that the personal-contact approach takes a deft hand, and I'm certain, from numerous conversations with homeowners in my neighborhood, that most people really don't have the touch, perhaps because whatever the "offender" is doing "to them" has become such an emotional issue. And, in my neighborhood, the "offenses" include letting your cat run wild, not picking up after your dog poops, letting your dog poop on their property, not taking care of your yard, parking in front of their house, taking short cuts through their property, letting your kids run around at night ringing doorbells and running off before you get to the door, vandalizing the community playground across from their house, not supervising your children and letting them play in the street or bully other children. It sort of goes on and on.