Suspension Of Disbelief

Scene 1: Rural town department store circa 1970, before security devices

Male Shopper: He folder the sweater he was thinking of buying and with direct eye contact with me he stuffed it inside his parka, zipped the jacket up to his neck and with one more glance at me walked out of the store.

Store Clerk (me): ( panic thoughts ) Stop him! Wait…he is over 6’ tall, at least 250 pounds and is the star football player in our small college town. Ok then, tell the store manager quick! No, wait…he is this shoplifter’s uncle. My manager is NOT going to like me accusing a family member of theft. My word against his….this guy is going to get away with it.

On that day I vowed to never again compromise my values and to never again be so weak. Wrong is wrong and theft is wrong.

Fast forward 10 years and now I am a seasoned mortgage loan processor with many loan approvals under my belt. Suddenly I was faced with another business moral dilemma. An appraiser that was the favorite of one of our newest builder accounts began bringing appraisals prepared in pencil (remember, this is before computers!). When I mentioned to him I didn’t want penciled work ups he shrugged and said “Oh, I gave you my work up copy…I will get the final to you before closing.” It happened again on the next loan. Again I told him this wouldn’t work for my file. He said, “Look, these take out loans based on the construction loan are a moving target. I will get the final to you when the builder tells me how much value he needs to cover the transaction”.

Wrong! Even though he was our #1 client’s favorite appraiser he was dropped from our approved appraiser list that day.

I share these stories with you because we have all been there. Faced with a moral dilemma and sometimes feeling powerless we fold to acceptance. However, most companies today have a vehicle for us to voice our concerns. We can seek out the best avenue in our companies and ask for complete confidentiality if and when we are aware of wrong doing in our mortgage workplace. Please understand, I am not advocating running a muck and looking for every single thing that YOU think is wrong. Being too quick to judge is as bad as watching a guy steal a sweater. Just keep in mind, sometimes things are not what they seem. Generally accepted business practices and a good corporate ethics policy will guide you in telling right from wrong at work.

Most people do the right thing or are thinking they are doing the right thing. Sometimes it is a gentle word from a co-worker correcting a simple blunder that will change a person’s work habits to the good and improve their skills for the long term. Even workplace discussions about ethics will evoke renewed understanding in people who have before fostered an illusory sense of piety because they have not yet faced themselves and their tricky ways. And as always we should continue to look upon our fellow workers with love and understanding even when we ‘think’ there is something amiss. Sometimes it is *“that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith” that we need to apply to allow correction in the workplace. Have faith in your fellow workers that they are an important ingredient in the renewal of ethics in the business world.

*That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge