Applying Values in Action: An Anecdote

David G. Meyers on developing the practices associated with moral action

Today I was deeply moved by a human interest story presented by CBS on 60 Minutes, and I want to share it with you. It’s about Jimmy, a bar owner in Wrightsville North Carolina, whose perspective on values and action has inspired me to relate that story to my discourses on social flourishing (Aristotle’s ideal “good life,” which he believed is achieved through applying moral discernment).

Here’s the story: One day a female patron, a stranger, came to Jimmy in distress. After leaving Jimmy’s place and going home a couple of weeks earlier, she’d discovered that she’d lost her wallet, with her wedding ring tucked inside. Her attachment to the ring apparently moved Jimmy, who took investigative action.

He spent hours reviewing his security footage, and he discovered what had happened to the wallet, which had been left on a bench outside and picked up by a homeless teenager.

Then he tracked that guy down and had a talk about what had happened, finding out that after taking the money the unfortunate boy had thrown the wallet (with the ring still inside) off the pier into the ocean.

Well, that’s wasn’t the happiest of endings, was it?

So Jimmy hired a couple of divers, who scoured the ocean bed near the pier and retrieved the wallet, which he returned to the owner.

Good stuff, right? You still don’t know Jimmy as well as I do; the story doesn’t end there.

That beautiful man brought the kid home to live with him and his fiancée!

The boy wasn’t leading a life of crime, he had no money, and he’d done what people do to survive, but Jimmy had a better idea.

That’s the story. What do you think? What’s the moral of that story from your perspective?

Time’s up! (Not really; I’ll pause.)

Pppaaaaauusseeeeeeeeeeeee.

Ready? Here’s my take. I hope to hear your comments also, if you’ll be kind enough to share them. I wonder how you guys are affected by hearing about Jimmy’s mindset and his commitment to action.

For me, Jimmy demonstrated that nobody needs to understand much about ethics to live a deeply fulfilling life based on values. Moral action isn’t based on deep knowledge about what’s good or bad, right or wrong, it’s based on applying values in making decisions about what to do and what not to do.

Thanks for listening!