Some time ago, I came across an unusual situation … there was a company that allowed its employees to use a taxi as a mean of transportation due to some need related to the company’s business. There were no major controls and, oddly enough, a receipt from the taxi was not even required for accountability.
That is why the company’s financial manager decided to check the taxi usage account and he got surprised by the volume of resources that was used to reimburse the expenses incurred by employees daily. Outraged by the situation, he immediately issued a guidance to only allow reimbursement, upon receipt. The result was a 70% reduction in the amount of reimbursement for taxi expenses!
Thus, it is not necessary to be an expert to understand that the employees of that company were using taxi as a salary supplement. The lack of controls also contributed to the continuity of the situation. If the human being was perfect, there would be no need for controls … but the human being is not perfect!
The one who subtracts 1 coin from R$ 1.00 real that is not yours, is able to subtract 1 banknote of R$ 100.00 reals and thereafter, reaching reasonable value thefts or embezzlements.
In the same way, the one who is able to take something that is not his / hers, is taking advantage of the justification that has no owner … as if some object had ended up there by magic, demonstrates a worrying misconduct, which can certainly enable various harmful actions to those around him / her.
And finally, we reached the culmination of this article by raising the question of someone’s character traits. Would the character traits of a person be inherited from his / her ancestors or shaped by living in a certain environment? Although there are defenders of both these and in the face of countless situations that I have come across over the years, I believe in the second theory: character traits are shaped according to the coexistence of those around them. Unlike other characteristics that, in my view, emerge from DNA, such as talent for some activity, temperament, etc …
This reinforces the thesis that if each human being endeavored to improve as a person, the influence of that personal effort would reflect on those around him / her, resulting in a better society, a better country … a better world.