Image courtesy ofTom Curtis/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
On the eight eleven train into Glasgow this morning a young woman came and sat next to me. The carriage was full. She was wearing headphones connected to her iphone to insulate her from possible interaction with other passengers.
When the ticket collector arrived she bought a return to the next stop. She then stayed on the train all the way into Glasgow. She had committed a crime - fare dodging - and I was probably the only one who was aware of it. Should I have done anything?
She had paid a fare but not the full amount required at that peak hour service. The train was packed with standing room only on the last stops into the city so the train company would have made plenty of money from the trip.
The guard/ticket collector was nowhere in sight. There was probably nothing that I could have done. I didn't feel that it was my duty as a good citizen to confront her.(Or was that cowardice on my part?)
Perhaps the young woman was an impoverished student who had spent the last of her student loan on her iphone and had to economise whenever she saw a chance?
She did contribute something to the railway. This contrasts with my recent experience on buses when I have been one of the few passengers who have actually paid anything at all! Should I just mind my own business? Should I try not to be so aware of what other people are doing around me? There are of course far more serious crimes committed every day and some would argue that this was a victimless crime. But if the ethics of right and wrong were a simple binary question expecting a simple yes/no answer then there would be no work for lawyers!
Ethics always seem simple until you get into the real world!
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