Campus Life

Integrity and Morals

A Matter of Integrity and Morals

Earlier this week I found myself sitting in Starbucks in between classes in the midst of a discussion that began because of the buttons that are on my backpack (they are Hillary campaign buttons). This said person asked me why I support her. I simply responded with a I think she is most fit for the job and has views that I agree with such as the universal health care program, getting troops out of Iraq, and the school systems (just to name a few). Then this boy (I will refrain from using names and or descriptions from this) asked me if I were voting for her because of the fact that she is a woman. I told him that I was not voting for her because she is a woman that has nothing to do with it. I asked him who he was voting for and when I did I got the “I don’t know anything about any of the candidates other than black, white, man, woman, so I don’t have an opinion really. Personally I don’t care.” I don’t understand how some people simply don’t care about what is going on in the world. I mean this is our country that we are a part of. In my typically sarcastic manner I said “Well you can’t complain if you don’t vote.”

Then after a few moments of this silence, he asked if I knew anything about Barry Bonds. “Yeah I know a little bit.” “I know that he had taken steroids and pretty much cheated his way to records if I remember correctly.” “Well, you would do anything for your family. You would lie, cheat, and steal if need be. His family is better off now because he did what he had to do.” (Now I am not going to lie, I would do anything for my family. However I wouldn’t cheat, steal, or betray people along the way). It comes down to a matter of morals and integrity.

How would you be able to live with yourself knowing that you cheated your way to the top? I personally know that I would not be able to deal with it everyday, but then again if this boy is correct I am one of the few in the world. It is just I don’t understand this whole concept. If I were taking steroids to become the best athlete ever imaginable, how would I be able to lie to the public about how I succeeded “Oh…uhm I trained really hard.” It would be on me and my family for the rest of our lives that we have all that we do because of dishonesty.

Now, I am not sure if Barry Bonds did get selected into the hall of fame (I am not update on my baseball), but if he does or is, then he should have an asterisk next to his name. People want Pete Rose to have one next to his if he were to ever get the nomination. All that Pete Rose did was vote on games. What he did had no effect upon the game whereas Barry Bonds did something.

 Apparently though, I don’t know much about life and the “hard times” that this boy talked about because he grew up in Philadelphia whereas I am from a small town of Scranton (Scranton actually isn’t that small).  He had to see people steal to survive and fight for their lives.  To him, I just simply said “well, when you see me at the top, it will be because I worked my butt off to get there.”