Wednesday 27 November 2013

Ethics in the work place

Tuesday nights, I go over to the pub with a couple of friends for a pint  and a couple of hours knitting and catching up. This has now come to an end, and I won't step foot in there again. The older I get , the easier I find it is to stick to my principles and what my heart tells me. Last night I happened to be in there when there was a meeting at the other end of the pub involving local farmers and the NFU on the subject of bovine TB.  General chatter with the landlord and his wife, while waiting for my friend, resulted in him saying all the badgers should be killed, and his wife agreeing with him as they 'don't add anything' - meaning there would be no loss if they were all exterminated/killed/culled whatever., who then went on to loudly profess she was an animal lover but.............  I raised my hand and told her to stop right there.

I was actually shocked to hear this.  The chef in the pub recently asked me to knit him an Aran jumper; I agreed, purchased the wool and began knitting; it's going well so far, then the landlady asked if she could buy it secretly and give it to the chef as a Christmas present. Fine by me, she offered a good rate and I enjoy knitting Aran. However, after last night, I am not knitting this jumper.

I cannot accept business and money from a person who has such  scant regard for life. I have written a note to her to tell her I am unable to complete the commission; if she bothers to ask why, then I shall tell her. I am now on the lookout for an alternative venue for knitting night.  I will stick to my principles on this one. Saddened, but with a lighter heart in some respects, it's been weighing on my mind all day. The substantial amount of money is irrelevant to me.

3 comments:

Jane and Chris said...

Good for you!
ALL of us are here for a purpose.
Jane x

Fran said...

Well done you and I hope that you get the chance to tell the landlady exactly what you think. The world needs people who stick to their principals and stick up for the defenceless xxx

gz said...

In the 1960's Bovine TB was almost eradicated, with nary a badger killed....

TB is a disease of overcrowding, overworking and undernourishment...in humans and other mammals.

Interestingly, a few years ago an organic farmer put out salt licks for both his cattle and the badgers on his land. He ended up a healthy island in a sea of bovine TB.....