No Cameras

What would you do if you knew you could get away with it?

I noticed several beautiful rugs hanging outside a restaurant, draped across the short fence of the outdoor seating area. The restaurant wasn’t open for the day yet. I wondered how many people walked by and admired the rugs—or thought they might like them.

Of course, I can’t imagine many people would take the risk of snatching one. There are nearly always cameras nearby, but what if there were no cameras? What if no one was watching? You know, years ago, that was the case. There were a lot of things you could do without getting caught. But what was people’s motivation for not doing something? Or for doing something?

What are you willing to do or not do based on who is around? It’s important to know your intrinsic motivations, sense of common decency and ethical standards. Perhaps you’ve had many opportunities to be tested, perhaps you don’t care what others think, perhaps you are okay with whatever as long as you can justify it.

Sometimes it’s important to challenge ourselves, our boundaries, our motives.