I’m feeling this emptiness inside, like a black hole awaiting to be discovered, and perhaps it’s because I’m missing you in my life…

- William A. Orton

For the next few posts, those of you who are following me (which is just a few and it’s okay) —- we will be exploring some of the rubbish that this so called “civilized” society has normalized for our daily lives. 

- Albert Einstein

So…this would mean i am, in fact, insane…

Despite the fact that there has never been an automatic brain manual for parenting - that develops the minute a man’s sperm fertilizes a woman’s egg and both individuals become parents - I would say we can all agree that most, if not all, parents advise their children to “always do the right thing no matter what.”

However, what I have found is that when children become teenagers, teenagers become young adults, and young adults become adults, this age-old advice becomes “always do the right thing…depending on the situation.” 

When has this rang true for you?

There have been many times in my experience that this rang true for me, but it wasn’t until around April or May of this year that it rattled and tested my own foundations of integrity and those around me. You see, I volunteered for this organization, which had this rule that those in “subordinate” positions cannot have any kind of relationship with their managers, other than the professional and friendly working relationship. Towards the end of my service, I was accused of spreading a rumor that I never heard of in the first place until my accusation was shared with me. Long story short, it wasn’t a rumor. Everyone knows to this day it’s not a rumor, that the subordinate and the manager did not only get away with an illicit sexual relationship but that the subordinate still has her job and the illicit relationship with her manager still goes on. 

How the situation came to be dismissed as a rumor is where the integrity of many were tested. You see despite the fact that those who saw or heard something wrong reported the situation, those who handled the “investigation” already decided the end result regardless of their findings. Of course, those who really knew the truth didn’t bother to do the right thing because (1) they wanted to look out for their peers and (2) they thought it had nothing to do with them. What they don’t realize is that (1) they lied to look out for irresponsible people and (2) it does have everything to do with them, especially if they will be spending another year(s) working with these two people involved. What saddens me, really, about the situation is the fact that doing the right thing in this case was just telling the truth. If the organization was up for it, which it was not because it aimed only to protect those it had protected before, then perhaps termination was what some would have received. When integrity was on the line, those who knew the truth lied and covered up, the organization chose to turn the other way, and now two people are leading many when they cannot even follow in the first place. 

So, I’m asking. 
Are we to live what we preach to our children? Do we always do what’s right no matter what? Or only when it benefits us or our peers?  

As adults, we should be aware that those we allow ourselves and our societies to promote are also the ones our children look up to as role models. If we cannot demand or expect responsible adults out of each other, then how can we ask for the same from our children?