2024-04-23 17:26
Is it ever right to support someone whose views you abhor if it helps you achieve other goals?During the Republican primaries preceding the midterm congressional elections in 2022, there was… Read More
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Blog for weekly ethics column by Jeffrey L. Seglin distributed by Tribune Media. For information about carrying The Right Thing in your print or online publication, contact information is available at http://www.tmsfeatures.com/contact/ or a e-mail a Tribune Media sales representative at [email protected]. Send your ethical questions to [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @jseglin or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/seglin
2024-04-14 11:33
Should you look at something that you know wasn’t meant for you to see?I regularly write recommendation letters for former colleagues, students and others whose work I know and with wh… Read More
2024-04-07 18:24
Should you always say something when your boss does something that bugs you?A reader we’re calling Clarence works as a teacher in a public school. He enjoys his work and likes his coll… Read More
2024-03-31 10:13
Is a conditional offer binding?A regular reader we’re calling Lennon and his spouse we’re calling Paula had a 19-year-old car with 109,000 miles on it. After the car began to exp… Read More
2024-03-24 13:18
What should someone do to research candidates or issues before an election?A reader we’re calling Harris recently emailed observing that it is a presidential election year and he wants… Read More
2024-03-17 12:09
How far should you let a good story go to make a point?A quote widely attributed to Mark Twain with no evidence that he actually said or wrote it is: “Never let the truth stand i… Read More
2024-03-10 17:13
In celebrating someone’s accomplishment, should you point out a mistake she’s made?A long-time reader from North Carolina who we’re calling Rosalind wrote to report that sh… Read More
2024-03-03 18:47
Do you owe it to someone to tell them when you plan to confront their comments in public?The first byline I ever had was published on Thursday, March 2, 1972, in The Times-Bulletin, the week… Read More
2024-02-25 03:44
Should you worry if your behavior in a new place sends the wrong message?Once an avid swimmer, it had been many years since a reader we’re calling Sedna had found a regular place to sw… Read More
2024-02-19 04:20
How much of a nudge should you be when trying to get reimbursed for a group gift?A group of friends who have belonged to a book club for more than a decade were overjoyed to learn that one o… Read More
2024-02-11 13:32
How smart do you need to sound to get what you want?Almost 15 years ago, I was invited by Bethany College, one of my alma maters, to give a talk in Bethany, West Virginia, to high school stu… Read More
2024-02-04 19:58
Is it OK to look at more than you’re asked to when a partner asks for your help?A few weeks ago, a reader we’re calling Vera was asked to do a favor by her younger sister. Vera&r&hell…Read More
2024-01-28 12:41
How far do you need to go when lending a hand to a neighbor?A reader we’re calling Monty who lives in New England wrote that he regularly likes to help out his elderly neighbors. Somet… Read More
2024-01-21 11:44
Should you do business with someone you loathe?A reader we’re calling Thérèse emailed me recently to tell me that her husband discovered that his favorite V-neck pullover… Read More
2024-01-14 14:02
Should you do business again with a business that disappointed you?A reader we’re calling Sylvia ordered a gift from a company online for her partner, who we’re calling Ian. Acco… Read More
2023-12-31 14:29
Twenty-three years ago, I wrote a column about how storytelling was an effective tool to communicate ideas.''People just don't simply hear stories,'' Joseph L. Badaracco Jr., a business ethi… Read More
2023-12-24 10:33
Once again, I’m asking you to share moments of kindness you’ve experienced. I’ll start by sharing a few recent incidents that occurred during a recent trip to go teach for… Read More
2023-12-17 11:42
“They will eat you alive.”Those words are advice I received when I started teaching at my last academic outpost. The speaker was commenting on how important it was not to show vu… Read More
2023-12-10 12:08
A reader from California who we’re calling Harry has been reading “The Right Thing” column for many years. Over the past 15 years or so, I’ve received an occasional e… Read More
2023-12-03 10:43
What’s the right thing to do when you disagree with someone in public?I’ve spoken and written before about how to discuss topics that can be charged (for example, politics, relig… Read More
2023-11-26 19:44
Should you stop giving to a charity because it sends you unsolicited gifts?That’s a question asked by a reader we’re calling Melvin. Melvin regularly gives to a charity. He&rsquo&hell…Read More
2023-11-19 18:48
Members of an online neighborhood group in the Northeast regularly contribute to the site on topics ranging from area yard sales and illegally parked cars to scant turnout at the local polli… Read More
2023-11-12 10:41
Fifteen years ago, a reader from Cypress, California, wrote that on her regular walk to her local liquor store to buy a lottery ticket, she happened upon a lemon tree whose branches ex… Read More
2023-11-05 11:53
There are more than 90,000 Little Free Libraries in the United States and around the world. These little boxes that typically appear on top of a post in a neighborhood began appearing in 200… Read More
2023-10-29 15:09
There are times when telling the whole truth is simply cruel, as when a doctor can choose whether to tell a dying patient in clinical detail how his health will decay, I wrote 25 years ago i… Read More
2023-10-22 12:30
What, if anything, do we owe service providers when we decide to no longer use their services? The question seems a simple one. Many of us have left cable service or cell phone providers bec… Read More
2023-10-15 12:23
Is it ever OK to exaggerate your accomplishments?Several years ago a colleague pointed out to me that another former colleague of ours had listed himself as the founding editor of a publicat… Read More
2023-10-08 13:10
When, if ever, should you correct someone who spreads factually incorrect information to you and others on email?Last month, The Right Thing marked its 25th anniversary of running as a colum… Read More
2023-10-01 13:13
A reader we’re calling Cliff wrote that
every time his regular U.S. mail carrier goes on vacation, he ends up getting
mail meant for his neighbors that is misdelivered to his house… Read More
2023-09-24 11:41
Shortly
after 11 p.m. local time on Friday, Sept. 8, an earthquake struck Morocco,
southwest of Marrakesh, devastating villages at the base of the High Atlas
mountains. More than 2,900 peo… Read More
2023-09-17 12:31
If
you’ve spent any time on social media, you’ve likely come across user reviews
of one thing or another. A store. A dish. A book. A garden. A vacation spot.
Most anything.
Pr… Read More
2023-09-10 11:22
Where
do you draw the line at offering a favor to a friend?
A reader we’re calling Linda had been taking
prescription medication for her high blood pressure for almost a year.
At f… Read More
2023-09-03 11:09
What’s
the right thing to do when a resident new to your neighborhood mentions gossip
she heard about a neighbor?
A reader we’re calling Rita was out walking when she
saw a woma… Read More
2023-08-27 12:23
Often,
how to respond ethically to some of the more mundane things in life that puzzle
us the most.
A reader we’re calling Pamela recently wrote to
comment about how much she loves… Read More
2023-08-20 10:31
Two
related questions from different readers arrived this week, each related to
food labeling.
From a reader we’re called Howard, we received the
question of what can be called &ldq&hellip…Read More
2023-08-13 12:08
Each
week after “The Right Thing” column has run its course in the publications that
subscribe to it, it gets posted on a blog as www.jeffreyseglin.com.
The blog doesn’t… Read More
2023-08-06 12:40
When I
was in graduate school, I lived in an dormitory residence on campus. In
addition to our bedrooms, there were shared bathrooms on each floor, a common
room with couches and a televis… Read More
2023-07-30 12:49
My
first fall in Boston after I’d moved there in 1978, from Bethany, West Virginia,
the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees were locked in a playoff to see who
would top the Americ… Read More
2023-07-23 06:44
How responsible are you for letting someone know you are receiving information you really shouldn’t be receiving?That’s what a reader we’re calling Norman wrote to ask. For… Read More
2023-07-15 12:56
Two
related questions arose this week about how much, if anything, we should
disclose about a personal situation we might be going through.
Question 1: Is it wrong to share detailed perso… Read More
2023-07-09 12:59
On July 1, I shifted to
emeritus status at the university where I’ve been teaching for the past 12
years. We’ve come to use “emeritus” as an honorary term where those… Read More
2023-07-02 14:33
The
1982 movie “Diner” is essentially about old high school friends who return to
Baltimore for a friend’s wedding. In one scene that takes place outside of a
movie theat… Read More
2023-06-25 16:36
A
reader we’re calling B.D. from the Southwest is a relatively new manager at his
business. B.D.’s unit of several hundred people is responsible for completing
specific tasks e… Read More
2023-06-18 11:17
A good friend and I took a walk the other day. The morning chill had given way to the warmth of the early June sun, so there were many people out walking or running. As we headed up the cres… Read More
2023-06-11 11:59
I am about to retire from my
full-time job at the university where I’ve been teaching for the past 12 years.
The school has offered me an office to use in retirement and the opportun… Read More
2023-06-04 11:35
I was 34 when my mother died the year the Soviet Union was
unraveling. I was 63 when my father died as the world entered a pre-vaccine
pandemic. My parents met in Yonkers, New York, in 194… Read More
2023-05-28 13:09
In
February, I received an email from M.F., a reader who lives in Mission Viejo,
California. The subject line of the email was simply: “How are you?”
M.F. reminded me that he… Read More
2023-05-21 09:44
Should we excuse bad behavior from
someone simply because that is “the way they are”? That question arrived from a
longtime reader from the Midwest we’re calling Maggie… Read More
2023-05-14 10:40
I suppose it’s human nature to be
curious. But is there a line where one’s respect for someone else’s privacy
trumps that natural curiosity?
A
reader we’re calling… Read More
2023-05-07 13:06
A reader in Boston we’re calling H.L. is among those who still get a daily newspaper delivered to her house. She wrote that while she knows she could read the newspaper online, she enj… Read More
2023-04-30 15:13
Do people apply for jobs even if they
don’t meet all of the qualifications listed on a job advertisement?
There’s
been sizable reporting over the past decade — some base… Read More
2023-04-23 11:33
My social media feeds have been all
atwitter for some time about how the artificial intelligence (AI) bot ChatGPT
could affect college admissions essays. Concern abounds that applicants wi… Read More
2023-04-16 15:14
Should those who become advocates for a
cause be criticized if they only embraced the cause because of a child or loved
one?
A
reader wants to know whether a friend’s newfound dedic… Read More
2023-04-09 12:28
The
first time we hosted a family reunion for my wife’s side of the family, our
oldest grandson was 13 years old. He was the oldest of our grandchildren and
would be attending the pa… Read More
2023-04-02 12:43
“How
much help is OK for a parent to give for a child's project?” a reader we’re
calling Flo asked.
After I received Flo’s question, I was reminded of a
paper I wr… Read More
2023-03-26 12:34
I’m late to "Ted Lasso." My lateness mostly results from not wanting to pay to subscribe to yet another streaming service to add to my television viewing options. Matthew Gilbert, the… Read More
2023-03-19 14:07
In late January, a reader we’re calling Liam called his television cable provider to cancel his television service because it was far more expensive than the streaming service many fr… Read More
2023-03-12 12:10
Is it OK to use a gift offered to you in a direct mail campaign to do something if you have no intention of ever doing that thing? Organizations regularly will mail potential donors appeal… Read More
2023-03-05 11:47
“We all got raises,” a former colleague recently told a reader we’re calling Maddie. The two of them had worked together at a business that had frozen salaries for many ye… Read More
2023-02-26 15:42
If offered credit for something you could have done, might have wanted to do, and would have benefited from, but that you didn’t do, should you take the credit? Does it matter that no… Read More
2023-02-19 13:35
If I don’t like my boss, is it wrong not to quit? In the wake of a record number of people quitting their jobs in 2022, it seems a reasonable questionable to ask. Could the roughly 50… Read More
2023-02-12 12:58
“I had a terrible week,” an associate wrote me late last week explaining why some commitment would take a little longer to deliver. While my initial impulse may have been t… Read More
2023-02-05 13:25
How responsible are we for giving off an incorrect impression about who we are and what we’ve accomplished?A reader we’re calling Prudence regularly watches the live feed of a ra… Read More
2023-01-29 15:00
“[S]ilence is the weapon, silence and people’s need to fill it — as long as the person isn’t you,” wrote Robert Caro in his book Working: Researching, Interview… Read More
2023-01-22 13:39
I’m not fond of getting in between a couple arguing about an issue, but I’ve come to realize that often doing so is the nature of the column I write. Here’s the latest. Of… Read More
2023-01-15 15:51
There has been quite a bit of buzz about ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot that was launched in November 2022 by OpenAI LP, a for-profit offshoot of the not-for-profit OpenAI Inc… Read More
2023-01-01 15:58
Almost every one of my jacket pockets contains a face mask. As I am writing this column, if I look behind me, I count seven stacked boxes with rapid COVID tests. Starting two years ago, a f… Read More
2022-12-26 03:25
Should we wait to start a meeting or an event until everyone has arrived? That’s kind of the question a reader we’re calling Petra asked after she recently found the ballet she… Read More
2022-12-18 16:31
How much of an obligation do you have to a service provider to let them know you’re switching providers? Does it make any difference if you knew the provider as he was getting his sta… Read More
2022-12-11 14:01
What is the appropriate response when all around you have an opinion on how something with which you are engaged should be done? Must every piece of advice be acknow… Read More
2022-12-04 14:29
Is it OK to claim ownership of something even though it’s unclear the thing was ever really owned by you? And would it make any difference if you planned to give that thing away to a… Read More
2022-11-27 13:59
My son Ed has been a high school English teacher for 28 years — five years more than I have been a college instructor. Early in his career, when I was still working as a magazine edit… Read More
2022-11-20 15:12
For some time, I’ve been sitting on a question raised by a handful of readers who happened to share a practice in their marriage that caused them to wonder abo… Read More
2022-11-13 16:44
“Check yourself,” an older woman who was seated on the subway car in Boston yelled quite loudly and clearly agitatedly at the young man who was standing next to her. “Your… Read More
2022-11-06 11:27
Back in the day, before there were “essay mills” online that offer to sell prewritten school essays to college students to pass off as their own, cheating still existed, though i… Read More
2022-10-30 13:14
I make mistakes. Most of us do. Even though I have written “The Right Thing” column about how people make ethical choices since September 1998, I am not immune to an occasional… Read More
2022-10-23 14:11
Are we ethically obligated to forgive someone? That question arrived from a reader a few weeks ago and, lest he hold a grudge for me not attempting to answer, I am going to give answering i… Read More
2022-10-16 12:05
The woman I’d eat bees for loves Halloween. It’s not just the beauty of the trees as the leaves change from green to orange, yellow and other autumnal shades. Nor is it jus… Read More
2022-10-09 12:23
A few months ago, I wrote how small acts of kindness could soften the blow of a rotten day. My truck had broken down and over the course of 45 minutes as I waited for AAA service to arrive… Read More
2022-10-02 12:52
Shortly after I moved to Boston in 1978, I was introduced to the original Filene’s Basement, an off-price retailer that sat below Filene’s Department Store. Every item in Filene… Read More
2022-09-25 13:32
“Dad, which one’s your favorite?” a daughter asks her father as they and her brother are eating chicken in a Golden Corral commercial. “I’m going to go with Jo… Read More
2022-09-18 13:10
A reader we’re calling Carla wrote to ask whether her mother is a hypocrite and behaving unethically. By Carla’s account, she and her mother got along famously until Carla began… Read More
2022-09-11 14:47
In Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Polonius advises his son, Laertes, who is about to leave Denmark for France: “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” I’m not con… Read More
2022-09-04 12:48
On July 8, 1994, the woman I’d eat bees for and I were fortunate enough to be at Fenway Park for a Red Sox game against the Seattle Mariners. It was a Friday night, and neither team ha… Read More
2022-08-28 15:15
At times when you want to get something, but getting that something involves doing something you don’t feel comfortable doing, what should you do? That’s pretty much the questio… Read More
2022-08-21 12:45
There are times when determining who the winner of an event is doesn’t always match up to the final score of the game. Consider the recent Southwest Little League Baseball playoff gam… Read More
2022-08-14 14:19
It’s not unusual to come across a piece of information we weren’t meant to see. Perhaps a manager forgot to remove an original document containing confidential information from t… Read More
2022-08-07 17:24
One business that was particularly helped in its growth by the pandemic has been Zoom, the online video meeting platform used by individuals and businesses to connect with one another. For… Read More
2022-07-31 12:59
I have this vague recollection from when I was a kid in the late 1960s of watching a football game between the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets. During the last minute of the game when… Read More
2022-07-24 12:04
Like many other people, I had put off traveling by airplane during the pandemic for as long as I could. The idea of long lines at the airport and cramped seats never had much appeal to me, b… Read More
2022-07-17 14:17
It’s time again to ask you to share moments of kindness you’ve experienced. Let me start by sharing my own recent experience. The Thursday after this year’s July 4 M… Read More
2022-07-10 12:59
There are dozens of gardening groups on Facebook. A reader we’re calling Violet belongs to several. On one, Violet recently read a post from a member that recounted an experience in t… Read More
2022-07-03 14:14
A former editor of my column once suggested I regularly step back and tell readers what informs how I think about ethical issues I write about (in 24 years you cross paths with many go… Read More
2022-06-26 13:56
Should people who post comments on websites be allowed to be anonymous? A few weeks ago I wrote a column focusing on an email from a reader I called Lil. She was seeking advice on wha… Read More
2022-06-19 14:23
How fully do you need to disclose information about yourself to a prospective employer? A reader we’re calling Mary posed the question to me after she interviewed for a job… Read More
2022-06-12 14:33
Are the charitable donations you make to various organizations going toward the work that organization sets as its mission or do they go to pay for marketing efforts to elicit more donations… Read More
2022-06-05 12:03
When you think there might be something amiss with the construction job going on in your neighborhood but aren’t sure, what’s the right thing to do? A reader from Boston we… Read More
2022-05-29 12:47
A reader we’re calling Sammie wrote in search of an answer to a question that has been plaguing her about her current relationship. Apparently, Sammie’s boyfriend mad… Read More
2022-05-22 12:52
Apparently, I am a dinosaur when it comes to voicemail. I still listen to voicemails that I receive from people who call me and leave a message. I have my office phone set up to forwar… Read More
2022-05-15 12:47
If ethics is indeed how we decide to behave when we belong together, then are you really doing anything wrong if many of your neighbors break the same agreed-upon rules that you break?… Read More
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