Self-Centered Good

A person's sense of good can be based on self-centered drives that lack consideration for what is actually happening in the first place.

The friend isn’t thinking about the fact the manager tried to politely encourage the sales associate not to impolitely shrug off a customer.

Christians,

A person’s sense of good can often be self-centered and detached from the reality of a situation.  A person can act more on feelings and an immediate sense of personal gain without thinking too much about what is actually happening in the first place.  Consider the following example of a manager, a sales associate, and a cashier who is also a friend of the sales associate.

The manager mentions to the sales associate that she heard her say, “I don’t know…look over there somewhere” after a customer politely asked where an item was. The manager politely but firmly says that she should try to do a little more to help customers when they have a question.  When the manager walks away, the sales associate’s friend sees that she looks annoyed and says, “what’s her problem?”

The friend isn’t thinking about the fact the manager tried to politely encourage the sales associate not to impolitely shrug off a customer.  When the sales associate’s friend sees her smirk, this encourages her friend to continue.  In other words, the friend of the sales associate likes the emotional and social aspect of this situation and wants to build on this moment of emotional and social gratification.  She further suggests that “we should stand up against her the next time she tries bullying you like that." So, her sense of good, which involves the idea of helping someone stand up to bullying, is really based on her emotional and social interests while being detached from thought about who is really trying to do something good or who really should be supported in that situation.