Be responsible
One of our favorite television shows is Clifford the Big Red Dog. In one episode (THE KIBBLE CROOK, 126a), T-Bone can’t resist sneaking a bite- – well, okay the whole bowl – of Cleo’s new dog food. When Cleo gets upset, T-Bone blames it on another dog and sends our fearless friends on a wild goose chase. But T-Bone ultimately confesses that there is no other dog, and he learns that he must take responsibility for his own mistakes. Clifford’s Big Idea: Be Truthful.
This is good idea not only for children, but for grown-ups as well. Doing bad things has the potential for getting you in trouble, often with significant and potentially grave consequences. Unfortunately, covering up the bad things only makes the situation worse. We have certainly seen cases of embezzlement or other forms of fraud that escalated to homicide. While the consequences of embezzlement are bad, the consequences of homicide are worse.
It would certainly be a lovely world if nobody did bad things. And, in fact, we would be delighted to be put out of business because people stopped doing bad things. Failing that, we would like to see people try to reduce the consequences of their actions by cutting short their escalation of crime.
