To Do The Right Thing

Years ago, I got tickets to a talk by one of my favorite authors. It was happening one evening after work and it cost maybe $40 – 60. Included in the event was a copy of the author’s latest book. 

A few days before, I started to feel sick and shortly after, I tested positive for Covid. It was immediately obvious to me that I shouldn’t—and wouldn’t—go to the event and risk getting others sick, but I was bummed at the lost opportunity, lost money, and lost book. I considered asking a friend to pick up the book for me but ultimately, went back to sleep mostly just disappointed.

The night before the event, I received a confirmation email. In addition to the normal information in a “we can’t wait to see you” email, they had another line stating that if you were experiencing Covid or flu symptoms or sick in any other way, to please stay home to keep our community safe and to let the ticket office know for a full refund. 

I was tickled. What a nice gesture! I really was sick and I could tell them and I would still miss the author talk and the book but at least I wouldn’t be out that money. 

What a treat, I thought as I emailed them back. How easy they have made it to do the right thing. 

I was thinking about this recently because it’s what we should all aspire for in our communities—we should want to make it easy for people to make the right decision. Doing the right thing should be obvious and expected and rewarded and simple.

But of course it isn’t always.  

And perhaps that’s when it matters most. Perhaps when it’s messy and complicated and uncomfortable and hard to do the right thing, that is where the growth happens.