TIME TO BUY DIOGENES NEW SANDALS?

When I was a kid in junior high school, I recall reading about a Greek philosopher by the name of Diogenes who had a problem with dishonesty. I decided to look him up.

I found a site proclaiming "The Teachings of Diogenes". Here's one story: "On one bright clear day, Diogenes was walking up and down the market place, holding a lighted lantern high in front of him and peering around as if searching for something. When people gaped and asked what he was doing, he replied, 'I am looking for an honest man'.

I thought, "If the ole boy is still out on the hunt, maybe we need to take up a collection to purchase him some new sandals".

Did you ever hear, "If you could have dinner with any one person alive or dead, who would you choose?" I don't recall seeing or hearing Diogenes' name mentioned. Understandable. Who wants to sup with some wise guy who has a hangup on honesty?

One man I know might . That's my friend Harry who writes about such subjects and does so straight from the heart - with no qualifications. His blog can be viewed at http://www.harry2335.blogspot.com/.

Here's my two cents worth from todays USA Today. It seems that on 9/11/09, eight years to the day (9/11/01) and the intended attack on the Pentagon, the Coast Guard, apparently unbeknownst to any non-military person in the country, decided to have four Coast Guard boats run a drill in the Potomac River to practice repelling a waterborne attack. (Hey, timing is everything!)

The story continues: "Broadcasting on an open radio frequency, Coast Guard personnel barked, If you don't stop your vessel, you will be fired upon", then; "we have expended 10 rounds."

CNN, apprently not having anything to do until Larry King brought on his next group of "15 second Hall of Famers", was listening on a radio scanner (apparently, not a Big News day) and overheard the Coast Guard. They concluded the worst and went live with the bogus news.

The Coast Guard was unapologetic, saying it's drills were so routine that it didn't need to warn anyone. CNN was also unapologetic using the lame defense that the Coast Guard hadn't warned it away from the story. The Coast Guard's response may not have been too surprising. With our fine military protection today we also get an enormous ego.

But, by their response, CNN completely ignored that their job was to report the "truthful" news, not the "so-called news".

The code in medicine is "to do no harm". The rule in journalism has always been: "it's more important to be right than to be first."

It appears as if CNN was more interested in getting the scoop than making sure it was true and when they found out it wasn't, they simply chose to ignore their actions or take the blame. Why?

Answer: Maybe, they are convinced their response was not lying - but "spinning" - and in their minds that was perfectly acceptable in today's society. If so, are they right?

If you related the story to many in this great country, and asked what both The Coast Guard and CNN did wrong , I'm not sure they would be able to tell you. If they responded at all, they most likely would have shrugged and replied: "I really don't see the problem". That's not unusual when the "Ten Commandments" are viewed by many as "The Ten Suggestions".

If you don't believe me, or think I'm just some old f--t, try volunteering or responding to an invitation to be a speaker on the subject of Ethics at a breakfast, lunch, business seminar, or company workshop. I did so for a few years and heard some fascinating responses to my scenario questions, just as I did when I was editing a column on the same subject.

Honesty, and doing the right thing, start with simple acts of kindness, civility, and taking responsibility. They are as simple as what actions we choose to take when the phone rings at home. Do we say to our kids, "Tell them I'm not here?" (That wouldn't have worked in our house as the kids would have said, "Dad said to tell you he's not here.")

One of my favorite business scenarios was : "Is it OK to use the company copier to print off music for the church choir? The company has so much money and the church so little". Sometimes, we even got into the copyright issues.

I did like a co-workers answer when questioned about stealing off in the afternoon to get a haircut because the barber wasn't busy; "Hey, the hair grew on company time."

Sorry, ladies and gents, I'm convinced brussel sprouts, regardless of what a TV chef calls them, or what sauce he puts on them, are still brussel sprouts and will never taste good.

For a change wouldn't you like to hear this response from a public figure, celebrity, or business entity, when asked about a perceived lack of judgement?: "I'm sorry. I (we) just screwed up. There is no excuse. Hopefully, I (we) have learned from my (our) action(s) and will take the proper course of action in the future."

Chances are, you won't. Some smart attorney will counsel them and advise that it would be a valid and harmful part of Discovery in the trial; that he/she assures you is bound to follow.

Now to be "perfectly" honest (sort of like being "almost pregnant"), if you run into that old Greek , walking down your street, carrying his lantern , still wearing his torn and tattered sandals- as he distained all forms of luxury - he would be much more qualified to discuss the subject of honesty than this writer. But, what the heck. It's a start and might get me into heaven.

Please don't stare at Diogenes' sandals. No need to add "peer pressure" to all the other things he's wrestling with these days.