How do ethics tie into the recent events in Boston? At one level many may think it a stretch, but as an ethics speaker as I look from my vantage point I see the best of ethical behavior in play – something that if often missed as we look at our daily lives in ethical America.
As with 9/11, the tragedy of what occurred in Boston will scar the American Psyche for many years to come. We will refer to it as: “The Boston Marathon Bombing” or “The Marathon Tragedy,” and people will know what we are talking about. Undoubtedly, security will be stepped up at marathons in the future, and just another little piece of our freedoms will be removed.
I will not give the bombers any publicity by re-printing their names; I will only state that they managed to kill three people and to physically injure 282. The word “Injury,” in this case is a misnomer.
There were men and women of all nations, thousands of them, who were standing near to the finish line who saw people within just feet of them get shot through with pellets and fragments. They heard the screams and they saw the pieces of flesh and bone and they saw Boylston Street awash in blood.
They too are now traumatized for life; young or old, they have lost their innocence and their sense of peace. But they did not, I am bound to say, lose their sense of ethics.
Let Us Not Forget the Ethical Miracles
We focus so much on those who lost their lives or were injured or the people who committed the acts that we fail so often to see the ethical values that naturally arise in times when humanity is called upon to act.
I have tremendous respect for all of our first responders; police, fire fighters and paramedics, and beyond that level, the physicians and nurses who dealt with the madness of the situation. However, first responders are trained, and most of them are paid, to perform when most of us would be inclined freeze with fear.
Boston proved that beyond a doubt, an ethical core runs through America that cannot be easily shaken when we encounter hard times.
Yes, I will admit that there were a few who solicited funds for non-existent charities simply to steal money and I hope they are tracked down and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I also heard there were others who took the opportunity of the chaos to steal marathon jackets and other materials and then sell those objects on eBay. They too, will be found out; they too, will have to live with their shame. Decent people will turn their backs on them.
Four Cases
Despite a few individuals lacking any possible ethical sense, there were hundreds, perhaps thousands who simply needed to do the right thing. These were not first responders or even race volunteers; they were people whose hearts remained impervious to the ugliness and hatred and senselessness of the day.
As the chaos descended on the City of Boston, there were men and women who had been spectators, total strangers, coming up to the runners to ask if they needed a place to sleep for the night or a warm meal or a shower.
There were several restaurants who offered to serve free meals to any runners who had lost their ability to pay due to their valuables being lost.
There was a grieving man whose son was lost in Iraq who charged into the crowd to place tourniquets on the limbs of the severely wounded.
Finally, there were hundreds of runners who kept running to the hospitals to give blood; so much blood was donated in fact, that the blood banks needed no more.
I cannot speak for tomorrow; no one can. I know that men and women will commit unethical acts in their workplaces or their homes or even in their Houses of Worship. I know that many who were nice and open and giving at Boston will again descend into their digital worlds. They will forget how, at least for a little while, their means of communication became hugs and tears and not tweets or updates.
Whatever ugliness we witnessed in Boston, we also witnessed an ethical miracle. Let us never forget how great we can all become when we’re tested. Let that be the greatest lesson and legacy of Boston.