Swiping Supplies

Swiping Supplies

                                An article in the New York Times Magazine titled “Swiping Supplies” by Randy Cohen discusses under what circumstances is it ethical to steal items from the workplace. A man wrote a letter explaining that he was a nurse, and his aunt called him at work saying she was extremely ill and needed an ambulance. Rather than calling her one, he took about $50 worth of medical supplies and treated her at her home. Was this ethical? Cohen seems to be on the fence about the situation, explaining that he understands the pressure the man felt, but at the same time a home is not a good place to perform a diagnosis and treat. On the other hand, he saved thousands of medical bills by not taking her to the E.R. After a tough deliberation,  Cohen’s verdict was that the action was unethical.

                As for myself, I can really understand why this person felt the need to take matters into their own hands. He is a trained professional, and he treated her successfully while saving thousands of dollars to the taxpayers and his aunt at the same time. A measly $50 worth of medical supplies were stolen, but they would have been used on the woman in the hospital anyway, so they hardly went to waste and they would not be missed. What it really comes down to is not whether or not it is ethical to take supplies from work, but rather is it ethical to treat a relative at home? There is no black and white when it comes to morality and ethics. Morality is subjective; meaning what’s moral for one may not be for another. It just depends on the situation. I would not condemn this man’s actions.

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No More Mrs. Nice Mom

No More Mrs. Nice Mom

Article Written by Judith Warner

                Judith Warner talks about a woman named Amy Chua, a mother, and also a professor at Yale law. Her philosophy in raising children is apparent in her book about being a “Tiger Mom”. A tiger mom is a mom that is extremely harsh on their children and accepts nothing but utter perfection from them. The idea is to have resilient, strong kids that will be very successful later in life. Chua uses the Chinese method of raising kids, in that she stresses respect (especially for family), obedience, and basically forces them to play violin and piano. “They are not allowed to pursue loser activities like playing the drums, ‘which leads to drugs,’ …” (Warner). She also disallows her kids to have sleepovers with their friends, watch TV and play videogames. Controlling? You bet. But that’s the point to the method. It’s reminiscent of 1970’s dad that used to take off his belt when you misbehaved, although the tiger mom method is not as physically violent. Emotional violence, on the other hand seems to be in Chua’s utility belt. “‘I don’t want this,’ Chua says, in one particularly memorable moment, when her 4-year-old daughter, Lulu, gives her a birthday card that, the mother judges, couldn’t have taken ‘more than 20 seconds’ to make. ‘I want a better one — one that you’ve put some thought and effort into. . . . I deserve better than this. So I reject this.’” (Warner).

                I can understand some of the points that this woman makes and I also comprehend her ultimate goal for her children, but I would never raise my kids this way. To me it seems so foreign and absurd to be so controlling over their lives like this. Understandably, I would raise my kids to not depend on TV and videogames for fun, but at the same time I understand that everyone needs free time. And if my kids are being forced to play an instrument for hours per day (one that they very well may hate), I wouldn’t deny them the occasional sleepover with friends. Her statement that playing drums leads to the use of drugs sounds like one of the most ignorant comments I’ve heard in a while. What I think leads to drugs is having overbearing parents that give you no wiggle room and eventually drive you to drugs or possibly even suicide. While I understand some of the points she makes, I have to say, she needs to lighten up.

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Auto(in)correct Response

Auto(in)correct

Article Written by Ben Zimmer

                This article is about the newer generation of smart phones and how their auto correction feature can completely obliterate the meanings that were meant to be conveyed by the person texting. For example, in the article they explain how a girl received a text message from her father reading, “next week your mother and I are going to divorce next month.” In shock, she replied to him and he sent back a message saying, “I wrote ‘Disney,’ and this phone changed it. We are going to Disney.” While it is funny in retrospect, this has happened numerous times to anyone that owns an iphone, some type of droid, or another smart phone that has an auto correcting feature. This has inspired Jillian Madison to start a group called D.Y.A.C (short for Damn You Auto Correct!) in which users submit their auto correct follies and are later posted on the internet. It has become such a big hit that she is publishing a book containing all of the best entries. It is due out in March.

                Personally, I have received some pretty hilarious auto correct mistakes. Nothing as serious as my parents letting me know they’re getting a divorce, but nonetheless they can be pretty funny. I also think it’s comical how people pounce on things like this and are able to make a ton of money off of it. Other sites that I think about when I heard about D.Y.A.C are sites like “FML” and “Texts from last night”. And let’s not forget the most successful one so far, “Sh*t My Dad Says” which started out with a guy posting funny quotes his dad has said on twitter, and it very quickly became a published book and is now also a TV show on CBS starring William Shatner. This site sounds like another great way to kill time and laugh the whole way.

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