Caught Red Handed

Have you ever gotten in trouble for doing something that everyone does, you just happen to be the one that got caught? It’s like being that last car in a group of speeding cars, but the only 1 that gets pulled over. That happened to me today, and I was somewhat upset. It is the ship’s policy that you are not allowed to lock or store anything in fan rooms. We upheld this policy strictly through our certification cycle. However, space on the ship is very limited, especially with all the riders we have and spaces we had to give up to them. I asked my boss if my division could store some of their personal bags in the fan room if it was neat and out of the way, and he gave me permission. Many divisions stored gear in the fan rooms in the weeks leading up to deployment. This evening the executive officer caught me storing the gear in the fan room and gave me the “You know better than that lecture”. I was respectful and maturely had my division move their stuff, but I still felt somewhat bitter about it. My boss had given me permission to do it, but unfortunately the XO caught me. I know there are plenty of other divisions who store stuff in their fan rooms, but unfortunately, I’m the one who got caught. If you have been in a situation where everyone is breaking the rules, but you are the one that gets caught, you know that misery loves company. It makes you want to bring everyone else down with you, but you don’t because you know that wouldn’t be good policy. I haven’t quite decided the best way to handle these situations when they come up. My division did give me the, “But everyone else is doing it” line. I just had to tell them, “Yes, but we are the ones who got caught”.