• Tbee (unregistered) in reply to SomeDude

    Not quite true. At that time he could not retire, the fish job was less fruitfull than the writers freedom implies. That job was his learning curve. So there was something at stake!

  • raton-laveur (unregistered) in reply to Tbee

    Well, on to the weekend. So long, and thanks for all the fish.

     

    (beats me why no one said that before I did)

  • anonymous (unregistered)

    I love it, and it's funny I was just discussing business ethics with someone. I left my last job on ethical grounds (but far too late). It was actually quite scary how in some businesses the mentality is that anyone having problem with lying, always breaching contracts as long as chances are you won't get sued for it, etc. is considered a naive softie who does not understand how the business world works(TM). When I criticized that no vendor was ever paid before they threatened legal action, network security was an open invitation for every 11year old script kid to download a wealth of sensitive data, or clients were lied to in the most shameless way (not as in embellishing, but as in lying), and management was implicitly promoting the use of pirated software for mission-critical business purposes, I got a condescending answer along the lines of me still having a lot to learn and not knowing how "business is done nowadays".

    What I have learnt from that experience is how people put up with extremely immoral things in business, just because it's in business, and they are just "doing their job" whereas in their personal lives they would clearly condemn the same sort of behaviour. But somehow they believe when they are acting on behalf of the company, they are not responsible for their acts.

    I am now starting my own business and really plan to have a zero tolerance policy towards sleaze and dishonesty - get me Roy!
     

  • (cs)

    You gotta admire his spunk. Few people will take a stand for what they believe in, but he did. As for the President's attitude on selling (effectively) defective equipment, it's typical wtf-ery out there. That's why when at all possible I get to know the people running the place and make sure they're NOT like that before I get hired. Running a network and supporting near-100 users, though fun, can be stressful enough at times.

  • (cs) in reply to SomeDude
    Anonymous:

    > The world needs more people like Roy

    Although I agree with mr. Roy's ethics, I think he could pull off the stunt because he didn't need that job- the job needed him.

    He worked there because he *wanted* to rather than because he *had* to. Point being, if the printers would have been sold, he wouldn't have wanted to work there anymore anyway. So there was nothing at stake, really.

    It's a lot easier to have balls if you have nothing to lose.
    On the other hand, anyone with a rent to pay and a salary just big enough to get by better not try this.

    How about "you don't deserve a raise because you only scored 70% efficiency in drafting and mechanical engineering" - when you were hired to PROGRAM in the lock company's electronics division!

    Or try being (effectively) offered a 25% pay cut because the company had financial issues - within 2 months of being acknowledged that if it weren't for your department that you ran, the company wouldn't exist at all? (In all fairness, the long-term pay could have turned into significantly more - percentage based on production - but I could not afford the cut at that time, and my "production statistic" was partially based on new sales, not an area I had direct control over, and which was virtually non-existent during that year.)

    In both cases (each wtf's in and of themselves) I advised the boss to reconsider what is "fair exchange", or let me go so we stop wasting each other's time (not exact wording, but you get the point).

    You're not really trapped at all by the "need" to have THAT job (whatever job that is). Granted it hurts when you have to walk, but an unwillingness to walk is what traps you - and in the long run hurts more. In the first case I got my raise - and a year later when the company restructured after it was bought out, a 33% raise to take over networking duties. In the second case, I ended up walking. It took me over a year, but I now work for 32% more money than I ever did then, not counting bonuses.

    It all starts with being ethical with oneself, then applying it with others, and then willing to defend it when necesssary. My favorite quote on freedom: 1) Thomas Jefferson: "The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance." Expanded upon more recently: 2) L. Ron Hubbard: "The Price of Freedom: Constant Alertness, Constant Willingness to Fight Back. There Is No Other Price."

    This thread is refreshing in that it offers a positive viewpoint - in what can happen in our part of the world when we truly apply ethics. Yes, that is what's wrong with this planet. But it will only change when each of us - one at a time - choose to make that change, AND demand no less from our peers. And it doesn't take ALL of us making this go right - just enough of us doing it makes it a threat to the survival of those sleazebags if they dare to be less than reputable characters. I'm thankful that people like Roy exist - it means we (most of us regulars in this forum) are not alone out there. ;)

  • Vincent (unregistered)

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  • Tammy (unregistered) in reply to Lazy

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  • Gary (unregistered) in reply to Lazy

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