IN THE RICE BOX: Excuses, Excuses

OLIVIA CHEUNG
Editor in Chief

When I was younger, I was that one kid who constantly feigned illness in order to avoid school days, consequently whining whenever my attempts failed. Thus, I quickly became best friends with the phrase “life is unfair.”

Though I no longer try to avoid school (for the most part), the phrase still haunts me on a daily basis. It was one of the first lessons I learned in life, teaching me that one cannot have everything a preferred way. However, the lesson I learned then has been misconstrued into the lesson I see being reinforced now.

Just the other day, I debated against my father about the ethics of solely relying on networking for employment. He argued that, if person A’s relative or friend is responsible for hiring new employees, it’s ethical for them to hire that person A over person B, a complete stranger who was more qualified than person A.

While his mindset may have been understandable, given the current cut throat job market, it is also unprincipled. His reasoning was that because life is already unfair, it’s acceptable if people act unfairly in order to gain an advantage.

However, instead of evening the playing field, what this mindset does is promote an amoral approach to life. We become increasingly accustomed to using this fact of life to excuse our callous decisions. Though we may receive something for our insensitivity, we also give away a piece of our own morality with each decision. The choice varies depending on the person, but our decisions in turn decide who we are.