Too Close for Comfort

Too Close For Comfort

In this case study, the ethical dilemma is "individual versus community." Debra Borchert is bothered by Jerry who is a developmentally delayed. He is following her and bumping into her and making her feel uncomfortable. Debra's difficult decision is whether or not to tell the manager Jerry is bothering her, risking getting him fired, and also risking the store not hiring anymore mentally challenged kids. Jerry also might not get hired anywhere else; the job at the grocery store was a good one for him. Debra's brothers were very similar to Jerry, and she wished they could be able to have jobs just like Jerry so that is another reason why she didn't want to complain. On the other hand it would be a good idea to tell the manager something because she feels uncomfortable, and she should think about herself before being concerned with what is going to happen to Jerry.

An example in the case study where Debra feels like she wants to tell the manager that she is bothered by Jerry is when he is following her, stepping on her foot in line, and bumping in to her. She knows he is challenged and probably doesn't mean any harm, but she feels she has no choice but to say something.

Another example of when she feels like she should tell the manager is later on the case study when she feels like Jerry forgot about her; however he comes over from a different register just to help her with her bags. To keep away from him she used the cart as a border so she had something between her and him.

On the other hand, as an example of why she thought she shouldn't complain is because as I said before in the thesis statement. She doesn't want to make the mistake of ruining other developmentally challenged kids chances of getting jobs. She feels that she should probably just put up with it and go on with her life. Especially because her brother has a very similar disease.

In conclusion to my thoughts on this case study, I think that Debra choosing not to say anything was a good idea. I think she did the right thing by just trying to avoid Jerry because getting him in trouble would only make it worse for him and her. At the end of the case study, it tells why Jerry was so attached to Debra, it was because he only wanted to do his job well. Therefor is Debra had said anything, Jerry would have been very confused on what