A Tale of Two Stories - Essay Example

Exercise: A Tale of Two Stories Part I: When I was in high school, I was part of a group project that needed to collect the signatures of a few teachers. The other members of my group decided that it would take too long to go around and get every teacher to sign, so we should just forge the signatures. I did not like this idea at all because I knew that it would get us into serious trouble if it was ever found out. I spoke up and told everyone else that I would go and get the signatures because this did not sit right with me.

Surprisingly my group was okay with this and so they allowed me to collect all the required signatures.What motivated me to speak up was that it wasnt really much difficulty to get the teachers to sign for themselves. It would be different if there was no way to contact them. Although it did take a while to visit each teacher, it was worth it in the end.I was satisfied with my response because I avoided a potentially dangerous situation and I resolved the problem all by myself. Since I was the one that objected to the forging of signatures, then it was only right that I went and got all the teachers to sign off on an important part of our project.

What made is easy for me to speak out was that I had known most of my group members for some time and I was good friends with a couple of them. I was sure that they would react positively to my suggestion, so I did not fear for my standing within the group. Part II:A couple of summers ago I worked at a job where I was required to handle the phones during the lunch break while most of my fellow employees were out of the office. There was one time when my direct boss was with me in the office and we were talking about how my internship was going.

Before he left, he told me that he wasnt supposed to be at work today and if anyone should call asking to speak with him then I should tell them that he was not here. A few minutes after he had left the office, the phone rang and I answered it; the person on the other end of the line wanted to speak to my boss. I hesitated because I was unsure of what to do. I eventually told the caller that my boss was not at work that day and I would take a message for them.The reason why I did not speak up was because I was fearful for my job.

My boss needed to write up a report for my internship, so I did not want to give him reason to give a negative recommendation.Looking back, I would have liked to be open and honest with the caller and tell them the true situation. I could have said that although my boss was in the office, he did not want to be disturbed.It would have been easier for me to speak up if I had been a regular employee because I would have had more job security than just a simple intern.