Over the years I have witnessed many things I consider to be unethical, and of course some things I consider to be much worse than others. For now, I will discuss an issue that many may consider minor, however when you consider medical implications, it could have serious consequences. I know that there are people in the restaurant industry who accidentally serve regular coffee instead of decaf, and never correct the problem.

Numerous coworkers have told me that they have served caffeinated coffee instead of decaffeinated coffee and showed no concerns with their mistake (I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt when I say accident, I assume it's not on purpose). If you arrive to a table and realize you didn't pay attention to what kind of coffee you made, you still have time to go back and correct the mistake. In fact, you can correct the mistake even after they have started drinking. To not do so, is morally wrong. Unless given a reason, one could never know why decaf was ordered. Maybe the person has heart problems and caffeine could trigger a heart attack. Or maybe the person is pregnant and doesn't want to expose their baby to caffeine. Either way it's not right to give someone any kind of drug without their knowledge. It doesn't matter whether or not the drug is legal, common, or it's type of effect.

My way of dealing with this situation is to politely explain potentiall medical issues with this action to the individual. I have no idea whether or not my approach works to change their behavior, but it appears to reach them at the time of the conversation. There are many other ethical issues that I have just quietly witnessed, however with time I feel more and more comfortable speaking up. At least after having weight the pros and cons I do, which I am sure most people do.