Yo Winston, "Larf is lark a box of choclates..." Glad you mentioned Forrest Gump. His character was portrayed as that of a simpleton but he had INTEGRITY! So, a person like that I can respect and admire. Gary Simpson

Hi ===================================== I feel very strongly about integrity, ethics, morals, respect. Without them, in my opinion, you aint got Jack Sh*t! ===================================== Maybe this starts to get interesting here... I figure that if you line up 100 people and ask them to raise their hand if they believe they have integrity, ethics, morals, respect - you're going to see 100 hands go up. See, here's the funny thing. If a person DOESN'T have integrity, ethics, morals and respect - they have NO problem lying. That's what liars do. They lie. What about the person that collects bogus credentials and flashes their crackerjack box PHDs to impress the uninformed masses? Dare a mere mortal, a paperless person, challenge the "pro" - the wrath would make your head spin better than Linda Blair's. And then, of course, there's the pseudo-religious folk that use their brand of religion as their shield to excuse any behaviour. God is guiding me, so won't you open your wallet and join us in honoring the Lord? Why does that just feel so smarmy? Incidentally - if any of this sounds cynical, I don't mean it to. I mean it to sound real. Very real. Because all these things go on, and if there is one thing I know, it's that people who are honest and trusting are often the ones who are most easily duped. Read that again. People who are honest and trusting are often the ones who are most easily duped. They *expect* others to be honest, too. Except that's not reality. Liars lie. It's what they do. Con artists con people. It's what they do. Having ethics and integrity are fine traits, yes. And often they make you easy pickings for the people that don't have them. They'll play you like a fiddle. And that's a fact. I say these things simple to inspire conversation... and to open eyes. To make people LOOK around them with their eyes wide open and their feet firmly planted in reality. : ) Linda

------------------------- Read that again. People who are honest and trusting are often the ones who are most easily duped. ------------------------- I couldn't agree with you more. This trait is especially true in those who don't learn to open their eyes. But there are limits. Eventually, people learn to see things for what they really are. At first though, I think it's more often later than sooner. But in the long run, do you walk away a wiser person? I think so.

Hi Linda, You said: ================== "I figure that if you line up 100 people and ask them to raise their hand if they believe they have integrity, ethics, morals, respect - you're going to see 100 hands go up. See, here's the funny thing. If a person DOESN'T have integrity, ethics, morals and respect - they have NO problem lying. That's what liars do. They lie. =================== That is 100% spot on. But if you could peek into their hearts it would be a different matter. I operate on a theory of thirds - in almost everything. Give me 99 randomly selected people and I will expect that 33 will be good, honest decent people who you can trust. 33 will take an opportunity if they think they can get away with it and 33 will be outright scumbags. Only life experience will allow you to determine who is who. ==================== "What about the person that collects bogus credentials and flashes their crackerjack box PHDs to impress the uninformed masses? ==================== Yeah, I've known a few of those. In fact, you can find them EVERYWHERE! When you investigate some of these claimants you find that their ONLY qualification is one of those stupid bought certificates from some dopey online university that has no street address. A $50 PhD. Whoopee! The PhD then stands for Piled High and Deep. ================= "Dare a mere mortal, a paperless person, challenge the "pro" - the wrath would make your head spin better than Linda Blair's." ================= So long as you don't start jibbering Latin and gooping green bile. LOL! About 25 years ago that bit really scared me. Let all followers be wary of the leader lest he or she not be a true leader at all! Gary Simpson

Well, well, well. Interesting subject here. In a minute I'm going to play devil's advocate with the definition, but first let me say that we had better define that code for ourselves if we want to have integrity. I'll give you an example. I'm a real estate broker, a member of the National Association of Realtors, my state Association of Realtors and my local Board of Realtors. To me, integrity means not gouging my clients. I perform listing services for a flat fee, rather than the percentage-of-sale formula that many if not most real estate firms here in the US use. While my fee is less, my service is equal to or better than my competition and more than meets the definition of "full service" that our state legislature felt compelled to put into law this year. My esteemed colleauges (who are all making more money on a listing than I am) consider me lower than that proverbial snake's belly, because I am defying their code. The one that says you devalue ALL real estate professionals by working at a "discount". Who is right? Maybe both sides. I adhere to my own code rather than theirs. Now to the devil's advocate part. Integrity also implies congruency, unless I'm mistaken. One can exhibit congruency in behavior that doesn't conform to societal norms. I prefer "honesty". "Integrity" begins to feel like a slippery slope. Someone above mentioned a Christian business partner, and I mean no disrespect to that contributor or his partner when I say that the moment someone mentions to me in a business context that they are Christian is the moment I flee in the opposite direction. I've seen a multitude of questionable products and services flying that flag. Show me honesty, integrity, high moral values, Christianity. If you tell me, my guard goes up. Cheri