Tina went home that night feeling sick to her stomach. She was taking an ethics course in which she had
read and discussed multiple cases exactly like the one with which she was dealing. Maybe a few months
earlier, before she had taken that class, she could have rationalized behavior such as this and just done
what she was told. Now, she knew that she would need to act on her values or feel like a hypocrite.
That night, Tina drove around for hours listening to music and thinking about everything that had
happened in her life leading up to that moment. She thought a lot about what kind of person she was and
what this life is really about. She contemplated the span of 100 years and what a short amount of time it
must be in the real scheme of things. She thought about duty, religion, purpose, and the after-life. She
listened to one Counting Crows song over and over again, drawing strength from the line, “I think you
better turn your ticket in and get your money back at the door.” She kept trying to tell herself that job,
status, money, and fame were really just seconds on an eternal clock--and that in the end, what would
matter the most was what kind of person she was.
Later that night, Tina went home and lay awake in bed for hours trying to figure out what she would say
the next day and how she would say it. She told herself that it was now or never, and that if she could not
do this, she would be taking the first step down the path of least resistance—a steep slope where many
gain momentum and few ever turn back. She made up her mind to go in and talk with her boss the next
morning.
What should Tina do and say?