Destruction of evidence

In these days of paper trails and electronic traceability I find it almost exhilarating when I can make an anonymous transaction.  An example would be paying cash for a Big Mac so your visit to McDonalds doesn’t show up on your credit card statement. I try to imagine the steps I would have to take in order to go somewhere and not leave evidence of my visit. Leave my phone at home and only carry cash.  No Garmin or recognizable clothing.  Dark glasses and a unremarkable ball cap. 

When the garbage people take our trash thus  intermingling it with the trash of others before shipping it off to New Jersey, I cannot help but think they are taking away evidence. Every now and then I have a CSI moment when I consider the physical evidence I leave behind wherever I go.

Because everyone gets to choose their own moral code and draw the line between right and wrong where they feel appropriate; everyone believes they have noteworthy integrity. Because everyone draws their lines a little differently we typically focus a bit more attention when we find ourselves close to those dividing lines. 

It is with that rambling preamble behind us that I relate the following questions and the problem of compounding greyness.

The first question relates to using a company printer to print out a single page of personal material.  You bring your own pen to the office and generally your hours of work exceed the hours you are paid.  The cost of a single sheet of paper is likely some fraction of a penny.  In the big picture, printing out an email so you have a hard copy should be just fine. Right?

The second question relates to forgetfulness and corporate responsibility.  A lot of what you work on is proprietary, though some of it is not.  You are encouraged to make sure you pick up everything you print promptly to avoid any company secrets from getting into the wrong hands.  Your work area is secure so anyone who can walk by the printer likely has the same clearances and confidentiality agreements as you so this really shouldn’t be a big deal. Right?

The final question relates to how you use your sick time.  Your company allocates you a certain number of sick days per year.  You have never even approached your annual limits while other people max them out every year.  You decide to take a trip to the beach and call in sick.  You don’t do this often and the company is darn lucky to have you.  You aren’t hurting anyone and you will be mentally refreshed when you come back.  Sounds like a win-win. Right again?

This all sounds fine until you send the email telling everyone you are sick and can’t make it in.  Everyone feels bad until they walk by the printer and see that yesterday you printed out your hotel reservation for the beach for today and forgot to pick it up.

My advice to this guy is to use sunscreen.