Honesty, a smoother road

Honesty, a smoother road
MarkBen Paulino
31 October 2011
RD3

Honesty, a smoother Road

Hello Commencing Class of 2010, friends, family, and our excellent staff,

Commencement is defined as the beginning or the start of, and in this case the start of a new journey and adventure that comes with the title of college graduate. None of you graduates are starting empty handed on this journey, as all have acquired the intellectual knowledge and life lessons from this campus environment. All have different skills of different degree levels, but the foundations are the same such as algebraic math, basic English, and general biology. We cannot forget the many virtues that have been enhanced or influenced through your college experiences. One such virtue is honesty as almost every class syllabus has a statement of academic dishonesty, it is however difficult to assess how honesty will affect our future and the personal and working relationships that ties along with it. My views on honesty are very utilitarian, as a reading from ENG 215 states “Most of us… are utilitarians on the subject of truthfulness, deciding whether to lie based on the possible consequences: Trivial fibs that hurt no one are acceptable; whoppers that injure others are not” (Miriam Schulman). [THESIS] Overall, however I believe that a journey guided by honesty will lead you down a smoother road in both personal and working relationships.[THESIS]

Let’s look at relationships. Relationships don’t always work out whether it is of boyfriend-girlfriend status or that of marriage. Sometimes the feelings aren’t just there and that bond will be severed, but how that bond is severed can play a role. The bond could be severed with mutual respect or with hatred and tension, which is often caused by dishonesty, lying, and cheating. I’ve been lucky with my ex-girlfriends, where we still say hi whenever we bump into each other and sometimes even start up a conversation. I can’t say the same for some of the other people that I know of, where one has lost feeling and decided to cheat instead of breaking the relationship first. In my experience, people would rather be hurt or disappointed by a break-up than by being cheated on. Those that have been cheated on feel such disrespect that they begin to feel anger and start speaking lowly of the cheater. Whenever they bump into each other a rise in tension occurs and both feel uncomfortable. It also hurts the circle of friendships that have been built with each other’s friends. What’s worst is being pulled into the tension of the severing of a negative bond, which I have experience from two people getting a divorce. The severity of the divorce increased because one had cheated on the other, which increased court hearings and lawyer bills as an agreement of assets, children’s custody, and alimony could not be easily reached. If cheating was not involved and one was honest on the lost feeling that they once had, I am sure that the divorce would not have been as drawn out as it was.

Sure, telling your boss he or she looks good, when they aren’t is a good way to get brownie points, but that’s as far a lie at work should go. Stating false facts on your resume or application could catch up to you. Stating you have a license or prior training if untrue may lead to a cause of termination if a thorough background check were to be conducted. If caught lying the respect and trust that you once have will be shot. The boss or upper management may decrease your opportunities in the work environment due to distrust, further decreasing the chance to prove your qualities and possible movement up the organization. These found lies could follow you to your next jobs or careers as many future employers call previous employers to not only verify employment, but to also find the positives and negatives of your work ethics.

As Jasmin Obadencio states ”Honesty is the best thing you can ever portray to make life easier.” I fully agree with her statement because in order to keep a lie going you must put up an act and remember who you told the lie to. You must also keep the lie going with others who come in contact with the person that has been lied to. To cover up a lie you must make up another lie and so on, thus the saying “A web of lies.” By being honest from the start you don’t need to concern yourself with lies and trying to cover things up. Jasmin further states that “Honesty holds the truth for yourself and others. It saves you from having regret, guilt, and [feeling] self-conscious. We all have lied to our parents, teachers, or siblings, and I'm sure we have felt bad about it afterwards ... With it, you avoid conflict, being caught, embarrassed, punished maybe, etc. We already have enough on our plates and if [you’re] a good person, you shouldn't have to try to impress life at your desire.”

As you all have heard honesty overall makes life and the journey a lot easier. However, there are some exceptions; many of us already know these exceptions. As stated in the book Making Ethical Decisions, “Making decisions that are ethical requires the ability to make distinctions between competing choices…No one can simply read about ethics and become ethical, of course. People often have to make decisions under economic, professional and social pressure. Rationalization and laziness are constant temptations. But making ethical decisions is worth it if you want a better life and a better world” (Michael Josephson). There is a comedy titled Liar Liar, starring Jim Carrey, which I highly recommend. Behind all the comedies and laughs, there are lessons about lying and honesty and when a lie or a truth should be told.

I hope my short skit on honesty has somehow swayed you or cause you to question what it is to lie or be truthful. You made it through one journey of your life and are about to start anew, or as we should say commence a new. So congratulation, graduating class of Spring 2011.