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To me the quality of a person is how they behave in situations that demand an ethical decision or requires the person to Do The Right Thing.
I started in Cropseyville, NY in 1979 and I worked as an associate for another dentist. Things were tough financially and we barely had enough money to pay our bills. In fact, we did not have enough money. One day, my denture lab called me and said to me, "Doctor, we have an outstanding balance on your account of $1,000 and your office has not paid me." The owner of the practice was responsible for paying all bills but I could not let my lab suffer financially because the office was short of funds. Why would they do a good job if they weren't getting paid? I said to the owner, "Don't worry, Barry, I will send you a personal check when I get home." And I did.
One of my family members had early onset Alzheimer's Disease and could no longer work. I told her that I would pay for her rent every month by sending her the money. After several years, I learned that my relative had used the money that I sent her to pay for living expenses and that she was going to be evicted from her apartment. (Aside: Fortunately, a neighbor was a social worker and arranged for the local County to provide living quarters immediately after the eviction.) I called up my relative's landlord and learned that $25,000 was owned to the owner of the building. I had no legal responsibility for my relative but I felt ethically and morally obligated to make restitution and offered the company $12,500 which was quickly accepted.
So where does Mr. Trump come into this blog? On FOUR separate occasions, his business has filed for bankruptcy even though he personally had made a lot of money. Shouldn't it have occurred to Mr. Trump that perhaps he had an ethical obligation to pay off his corporate debt?
I don't have a position on Donald Trump for President but I sure do question his ethics.
Dentistry should be a highly ethical profession. Unfortunately, for many reasons, ethics is in decline in my beloved profession. You have my word that I will never take your money without giving you value; And I will never put MY financial best interest ahead of YOUR best interest and health.
Never have and never will.
