Blog Post #8: Ethics

 I would describe myself as an ethical person. It is important to understand what ethics are and how to follow them. It is also not that difficult to stray away from basic ethical guidelines. Going against ethics in my opinions encompasses racism, homophobia, and harassment. When I think of ethics, I believe it is about respecting people no matter their race, religion, or background. I believe my field of study aids in my understanding of ethics, as it has its own set of ethics. Things like confidentiality, informed consent, and debriefing are vital in the psychology and overall research world. More specifically, as a future mental health counselor, I aim to follow all ethical guidelines and protocol of protecting and respecting my future clients, no matter their situation. 

I am lucky to have not experienced many ethical dilemmas, but I have seen a few throughout my life. There are some situations I have experienced that may not have been fully unethical, but the situation always felt wrong. When I was serving at my family’s restaurant, we put an automatic tip for parties of 6 or more. I dropped the check at the table, and explained the rule. As I picked up the check after they left, I saw that they left a tip. This is what we all call “a double dip”, as in I got a tip plus the automatic gratuity on the table. I felt totally awful, even though I explained the process to them. It is nice to receive that amount of money, however, it felt because I was not sure if they meant to give me that much. Whether they thought I was a great server or ignored what I was saying, I felt terrible because I thought I “stole their money”. I talked to the owner, my dad, about it, but he mentioned that it happens all the time. He said that I did what I could do at that point; the table was gone and I did the right thing in checking in with him. Sometimes it is an accident, but sometimes they double dip on purpose. My dad said as long as I treat customers with respect and explain the tipping, I am doing the right thing as a server.