Good by nature? Really?

I’m in NYC for a couple of days and while checking at my hotel it occurred to me that every day we see little evidences that we may not be as intrinsically good as many out there would have us believe.

Get this: even though your hotel is pre-paid, they still ask you for a credit card for “incidentals.” What are these “incidentals” after all?

Okay, phone calls which nobody makes anymore because we all have cell phones. Drinks from the refrigerator maybe? But who pays 4 bucks for a bottle of water? Sure you can order stuff and just sign with the room number, and there is always the possibility someone may get drunk and start breaking stuff, or God forbid, walk out with one of these flat screen TV sets.

You see, I think “incidentals” is a euphemism for stuff that may go missing or amiss. And why do hotels ask us to provide them with a credit card? Because they don’t trust that we will voluntarily offer to pay for those things.

Businesses don’t trust our intrinsically good nature. And there you have it — an indirect evidence that something may fundamentally be amiss with our human nature.

Next time, try to convince the guest service person that whatever “incidentals” you might incur, because you are such a good person, you will take care of everything no questions asked. And be sure to let me know how that worked for you.

Good night,

Ivanildo C. Trindade
P.S. I wonder if that’s why employers make their employees clock in and clock out every day? And what about fingerprinting before you are allowed to work around children? Can you think of some other examples of this kind of thing? You get my point…

Posted by Ivanildo C. Trindade via Blackberry