Do the right thing even if it bites you in the butt?

[pemberly]

if you were in a situation where doing the "right thing" would cause you harm and benefit no one, would you still do it for morality's sake? if yes, why? and has anyone been in this situation before?

this just happened to me a few hours ago. i was backing out of the small parking lot at my kung fu studio, and i didn't realize a guy had boxed me in, parking illegally. he had parked perpendicular to me, but had edged his car so forward that i would not be able to leave without hitting him. it was dark and the front of his car was too low to be visible from my rear window. i bumped him and there was no damage to either car beyond what was either a small scuff or dirt. 4 people looked at it later and were not able to tell. anyways, nobody was around, no cameras, the guy most likely would never have noticed, but i went inside and told him. so... looks like i'm going to get screwed with higher insurance premiums for this. sigh.

[Candide]

I have a list of right things. Right thing #1 is prioritized over Right Thing #3. Sometimes there's a situation where one action I take may lead to compliance with Right Thing #x but break Right Thing #y, and another action goes the other way around. I pick the action that allows me to stick with a high ranked Right Thing.

I'm pretty sure my Butt ranks very high on the list. Certainly higher than some random arsehole who can't park.

[tweety365]

i'm no expert at these accidents, but i do work for an insurance company and have read a lot of claims due to work. your insurance will most likely not be affected.

reason: he was parked illegally and it was dark. he would have to take part of the blame. so at most, you will be 50% liable for damages. i'm sure the cost to fix a small scratch will be much less than the usual $500 or $1000 deductible. claiming a loss will result on having an incident on his loss history report.

i'm not sure what company you are insured with, but most companies have at least 1 accident forgiveness policy. which means your premiums won't be affected. plus, this isn't a major collision.

the best thing to do is contact your insurance company and explain the situation. sorry for going off topic

[pemberly]

reason: he was parked illegally and it was dark. he would have to take part of the blame. so at most, you will be 50% liable for damages. i'm sure the cost to fix a small scratch will be much less than the usual $500 or $1000 deductible. claiming a loss will result on having an incident on his loss history report.

yeah, everybody says the damage is at most $100, but i've had someone claim $125 damage on me before.

i'm not sure what company you are insured with, but most companies have at least 1 accident forgiveness policy. which means your premiums won't be affected. plus, this isn't a major collision.

unfortunately, i had a major collision early last year.

the best thing to do is contact your insurance company and explain the situation. sorry for going off topic

i have arbella, but i'm hesitant to call them bc the people there are really mean. the last time i got an accident, i got a call from a guy there and he yelled at me, told me to stop making left turns and then hung up on me. -_-

[Extremer88]

if you were in a situation where doing the "right thing" would cause you harm and benefit no one, would you still do it for morality's sake? if yes, why? and has anyone been in this situation before?

As you have said - for morality's sake. For me, yes. It does benefit oneself when one does something right morally, if one have strong values deep in his heart. As for oneself's harm, as long as it's not bodily it's acceptable.

Personally I have done something, in which a lot of people would say I'm stupid, dumb, etc. But I know, if my God exists, he will love me for what I have done. In fact, I pity those people for their thinking - which maybe fits the current age and situation, but not right in front of God.

[Ken Cheng]

I think I just did.

[Trien Chieu]

if you were in a situation where doing the "right thing" would cause you harm and benefit no one, would you still do it for morality's sake? if yes, why? and has anyone been in this situation before?

this just happened to me a few hours ago. i was backing out of the small parking lot at my kung fu studio, and i didn't realize a guy had boxed me in, parking illegally. he had parked perpendicular to me, but had edged his car so forward that i would not be able to leave without hitting him. it was dark and the front of his car was too low to be visible from my rear window. i bumped him and there was no damage to either car beyond what was either a small scuff or dirt. 4 people looked at it later and were not able to tell. anyways, nobody was around, no cameras, the guy most likely would never have noticed, but i went inside and told him. so... looks like i'm going to get screwed with higher insurance premiums for this. sigh.

Why don't you compensate him directly? If I were you, I would make a deal with him privately instead of reporting to the insurance. If there is no or very little damage, he probably accept $100 in compensation.

[pemberly]

oh my goodness, TC is advocating illegal activity.

[Bangs]

You did the right thing few people would have the balls to do. Having a clean conscience is healthy considering the added stress of being guilty of something. Then again most people dont give a **** about things like this, heartless bastards haha!

[tweety365]

i have arbella, but i'm hesitant to call them bc the people there are really mean. the last time i got an accident, i got a call from a guy there and he yelled at me, told me to stop making left turns and then hung up on me. -_-

I would advise you to shop around for insurance company with better service. With so much competition these days, there's gotta be something out there that is affordable and provides decent service. Any rep yell at me, I'd get their id and call the corporate headquarters and make a formal complaint.

The reason people buy insurance is to have coverage in case of accidents. The main reason they are in business is because of accidents. I'm so digressing, but back to your accident. You should still call Arbella and report the incident. If you speak to anyone remotely rude, ask for his/her supervisor.

And don't listen to TC. Why should you pay him when he was parked illegally? If a police officer was around, he would get a ticket.

[pemberly]

so, my honesty continues to get punished. the guy's crazy wife left me a voicemail saying she's going to accuse me of a hit and run bc i didn't email her within 24 hours. i left my grandmother's house on the day before chinese new years, when i have a ton of things to do, to come home and email the crazy biatch. as i was leaving home again, a guy came out of a driveway and hit me. so that's 2 car accidents in 3 days.

[Guo Xiang]

IMO you did something really silly. It wasn't much of your fault in the first place. The guy was in the wrong initially, and he made the situation in a way you couldn't leave without hitting his car. In that case, how on earth were you wrong when you did hit his car? >_> Were you supposed to wait there all day long just for him to return to drive away? It's simply not something you should feel sorry or bad about.

He simply got punished for his irresponsibility, and you punished yourself for what was his fault.

[remember_Cedric]

so, my honesty continues to get punished. the guy's crazy wife left me a voicemail saying she's going to accuse me of a hit and run bc i didn't email her within 24 hours. i left my grandmother's house on the day before chinese new years, when i have a ton of things to do, to come home and email the crazy biatch. as i was leaving home again, a guy came out of a driveway and hit me. so that's 2 car accidents in 3 days.

Pembie, is it still possible for you to report that biatch and her chumpy hubby for illegal parking to the traffic authority (or whichever authority that may concern)? Payment aside, screw those buggers and we'll see who gets the last laugh!

[pemberly]

i don't know. i talked to my insurance agent today and he said he'll handle it. but the psycho woman keeps emailing me and harassing me and insulting me. i'm not replying to her, but i just wish she would stop it.

[Suet Seung]

i don't know. i talked to my insurance agent today and he said he'll handle it. but the psycho woman keeps emailing me and harassing me and insulting me. i'm not replying to her, but i just wish she would stop it.

They're just trying to get some money. It's their fault for parking stupidly. I would've just went on my merry way. This isn't about doing the right thing.

[Guo Xiang]

i don't know. i talked to my insurance agent today and he said he'll handle it. but the psycho woman keeps emailing me and harassing me and insulting me. i'm not replying to her, but i just wish she would stop it.

Does that count for harrassment, which can get her into legal trouble? If it does, don't hesitate.

[athlee]

Does that count for harrassment, which can get her into legal trouble? If it does, don't hesitate.

It should. Just drop by a police station, show them the messages and lodge a report.

[kidd]

Agree. Report on them for the harassment.
But, for the illegal parking, wouldn't it be hard to prove now that both cars already moved from the place the incident happen?

[athlee]

Agree. Report on them for the harassment.
But, for the illegal parking, wouldn't be hard to prove now that both cars already moved from the place the incident happen?

read their messages carefully, they might have shot themselves in the foot there Or maybe there is CCTV or something.

[Guo Xiang]

the guy's crazy wife left me a voicemail saying she's going to accuse me of a hit and run bc i didn't email her within 24 hours

And based on this, maybe you can top it off with a slander charge too.

Since you owned up to her hubby, it cannot be considered as a hit-and-run. Besides, as stated before, it wasn't even your fault to begin with.