I think there's a growing trend to look out for oneself and to ignore the interests of others.
A few days ago my wife and I were in a city well west of our home. We woke to find that some two-and-a-half feet of snow had fallen overnight. At ten in the morning our car and others were totally buried under mounds of snow in the motel parking lot. Worse still, there was a stretch of about six feet behind our cars where the snow had been piled higher still by a plow that had cleared the main drive.
Overwhelmed by the job of digging out the car, I went to the desk and asked if I could pay someone to do it or to help. Sorry, I was told, many of the staff hadn't made it to work--something we learned when breakfast was served by a desk-clerk. Could I borrow or rent a shovel? Sorry again, the motel only had three and all were in use. We'd have to wait at the door along with some ten others on a first-come-first-served basis for return of the shovels.
We all waited quite a while but no sign of a shovel. I then went back to the room, got the plastic tray from breakfast, which hadn't yet been picked up, as well as the plastic ice-bucket, and we got to work on the snow with those implements. Several people followed our example. After an hour-and-a-half we managed to get the car out. I then went to check out and commented on the shovel problem, only to be told that none had been returned and that no less than the manager was out looking for them.
The ethical point of this little story is that the three people who'd gotten the shovels first obviously dug out their cars, dumped the shovels, and left--without a thought for the rest of us. This was confirmed by the fact that as we left, a man, probably the manager, was pulling a shovel out of a snow-bank where it'd no doubt had been left buried in snow--a shovel that several people were still waiting for.
Of course everyone was irritated by having to dig out their cars, but instead of sharing the problem and thinking of others, at least three of the dozen leaving the motel looked out only for themselves. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if one or two just took the shovels with them--for the next time.
