Moral/ethical dilemma essay: Is this too outrageous???

[Picklesali]

Okay - so I was thinking about writing about my first job. I had no paid work experience coming out of high school, so I had difficulty finding a part-time job during my first semester in college and ended up working the night shift at...dun dun dunnnn...McDonald's. The interesting thing was that the majority of my coworkers for this shift did not decide to work there, they were assigned there by the local halfway house as part of their rehabilitation!! So the dilemma (besides adapting to people from all different walks of life) was that I caught a coworker repeatedly pocketing money, and I approached him about it. He threatened me not to tell anyone. I didn't know what to do - I didn't want to turn a blind eye - but I didn't want to potentially risk my safety for the sake of McDonald's cash flow.

True story. Will this seem too outrageous? I certainly did learn a lot that semester, about a LOT of different things, I just don't want to portray myself in a negative light - and for some reason McDonald's always seems negative to me. Any thoughts/suggestions???

(oh, what happened, you ask? The culprit was sacked two shifts later - the manager noticed the bulging pockets as well.)

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[bbabul01]

It's a weird story, and thus could attract attention from adcoms, which is usually good. As long as you can spin the story as a good learning experience I say go for it...

 

[OCallag]

I think it's a really good story. Just make sure it's articulate and you fully explain the situation.

Tip: Leave the "dun dun dunnns." I think they add a nice effect.

 

[Arc]

Concept is good, but in thses kind of essays the delivery is key.

 

[MassTransport]

Good framework.

 

[riceman04]

I like the story

 

[jdh71]

Okay - so I was thinking about writing about my first job. I had no paid work experience coming out of high school, so I had difficulty finding a part-time job during my first semester in college and ended up working the night shift at...dun dun dunnnn...McDonald's. The interesting thing was that the majority of my coworkers for this shift did not decide to work there, they were assigned there by the local halfway house as part of their rehabilitation!! So the dilemma (besides adapting to people from all different walks of life) was that I caught a coworker repeatedly pocketing money, and I approached him about it. He threatened me not to tell anyone. I didn't know what to do - I didn't want to turn a blind eye - but I didn't want to potentially risk my safety for the sake of McDonald's cash flow.

True story. Will this seem too outrageous? I certainly did learn a lot that semester, about a LOT of different things, I just don't want to portray myself in a negative light - and for some reason McDonald's always seems negative to me. Any thoughts/suggestions???

(oh, what happened, you ask? The culprit was sacked two shifts later - the manager noticed the bulging pockets as well.)

OK . . . soooooo, what did you learn from the experience . . .

That will be the important question on any adcoms mind and you will need an answer if you want to play this hand . . .

 

[LizzyM]

I agree that this is a good dilemma... it is the basic framework of a favorite question of interviewers... what would you do if a peer (or superior) was doing something morally wrong (or potentially hazardous to a patient).

Don't worry about the McDonald's angle. A job is a job when you are a college freshman and the adcoms know it.