The Harm of Dishonesty

It's been a very restless couple of years. COVID-19 has changed life as we we always assumed it would be, and by the looks of it, it's been doing whatever it can to stick around for as long as it can. I've never heard the word "quarantine" or "pandemic" as much as I have recently. I can almost laugh about the fact that there was a point that things like that actually sounded weird on my ears, but at the end, it's sincerely unfortunate that we've got wrapped up in this the way we have been, and tiny thoughts are drastic reminders.

There was a time that I found the "new normal" cozy. I'm an introverted person and I enjoyed staying in and sitting back for some time, but there comes a moment where you literally lose your mind. I can pin point that very second for me. Thousands of random events were popping up that I had to put up with rather than love doing, and one of these included going through a series of job interviews. Little did I know that it was one of these sit-downs that would send me over the edge.

I knew considering the person I am and the personality that comes with it, that this was going to burn me out regardless, but I also knew that I was an adult, barely, but definitely an adult, and that I was going to have to figure it out if I wanted to survive. I arrange to be interviewed for an online company that will allow me to work from home, and I get as prepared as I can for the video chat. Everything is going well at first. At least, that's how I remember it. I'm having good conversation with the interviewer and I'm thinking that I have a good shot at getting a position.

It didn't take long to figure out that that was short-lived. After explaining what exactly the job consists of and what I would be doing, I was alarmed of the description, which was not at all what I thought I was signing up for. As if this were some kind of test, I calmly respond that I would not be comfortable being a part of dishonest work of any kind and that I wanted to do genuine work that wouldn't rip anybody off. In my mind I was thinking this had to be the answer he was looking for! I'd want to be assured that the company I work for deserves my respect. If they're not treating their clients fairly, then there was no guarantee that they were going to treat me fairly either, right?

From the outside looking in, that seemed to be exactly what I would be getting into. I was told that it was my way of thinking that was off, and that I couldn't qualify for the job if I didn't want to help the company grow and expand overtime in their unjust ways. Initially, this got me down. I almost regretted letting go of this opportunity. I was thinking that this was finally the break I needed to climb out of the struggle I was going through, and that expectation is what made me sick. It was words from my sister that motivated me to keep going. "More than half of adults will lie at least one time in a conversation over five minutes," she said. "That doesn't mean that you have to be one of them in action or in words." Until this day, I'm not actually sure if the words she told me were proven or not, but I was extra determined to look for a job elsewhere, that would better match my morals.

Still, it's agonizing to realize how the world works and for it to hit you in the face like that. All of us want to trust that the companies we need to rely are trustworthy and that we're in good hands, but a lot of people only look out for themselves, and in order to avoid anything difficult they throw out a couple of syllables that are supposed to cover for them, no matter how they might effect somebody else. Of course, in many instances this ends up backfiring on them. It's been said in every childhood movie that the truth ends up coming to light, but a lot of the times, those ones don't fall down by themselves. It's these ones that make the world harder to live in, and it's an issue because someone noticing another using it to get away with something means that everyday more people are going to cave into doing it themselves.

We need trust. Trust is what allows the earth to function. Relationships in any form rely on it to get anything done and when two people trust each other they are assured that they will take care of their responsibilities instead of having to waste time worrying about each other. It's has a somewhat underrated beauty, if you will, as it is not praised enough especially considering that it takes time to build up, but can be instantly broken by failure on one side, and harm in betrayal can last longer than it took to build it up: forever.

It's ironic if you think about it. Saying something untrue to someone when they deserve to know about it rather than be kept in the dark about it, or making people look bad and bringing them down behind their backs are tactics people use to escape trouble, but at the same time, it's those attitudes that are putting the world into the trouble that it's in.

Honest is not always easy, I'm aware of that, but that doesn't mean that we can't choose to live by it to the very best of our ability. If we fall short once, we can always try to fix it the issue before it gets any worse, and try to do better the next time. We can't blind ourselves with justification that we start to eventually believe. We can't make ourselves the good guy every single time because the truth is, it's very likely that we're not. Reality isn't the movies and every once in a while we're also the villian.

Dishonesty is never okay. Though it might get us into deeper trouble at first, it means that nobody has to face consequences for something that they didn't cause and situations will be much quickly dissolved. We will avoid tons of heartache the sooner we admit the truth. As for me, I have found that everything has worked out. I have found a place of work that supports me and that has values that I'm comfortable with.

Unlike it's opposite, honesty leads to achievement.