Squirrel Burgers

Here’s a story about sacrificing quality for delivery: don’t make squirrel burgers.

I’m usually a centrist. If there’s two competing moral principles, the best moral compass is probably somewhere in the middle. I’ve been on the side of rehabilitative criminal sentences (fix what caused the crime, don’t eye-for-an-eye ’em), but then some really awful case makes me want to just execute the asshole.

Thus, I really like when something pulls me towards the center. My father instilled the following principle in me when I was growing up:

At some point in your career, there’s going to be a day when the janitor doesn’t show up and there’s a huge mess in the bathroom. It doesn’t matter if you’re a mailworker or the CEO, that mess has to get cleaned. Don’t be the kind of person that says, “that’s beneath me!” Get the job done. [Paraphrased, not quoted]

I still think that’s a good lesson and has served me well. But the squirrel burger article makes another point – not every job should get done.