DUTY? Which Duty Comes First?
I believe duty begins with family. When family and public responsibilities compete, I ask what is urgent, who can step in, and who bears the cost of my choice.
DUTY?
DUTY? Which Duty Comes First?
Which duty comes first? My answer is family. If someone in my family depends on me for care, I believe that responsibility should have first claim on my attention. It arises naturally from the relationship. The difficulty is that the people closest to me are often the ones I most readily assume will understand if I put them off.
I also have duties to the society I live in and to the people who rely on commitments I have made. If I accept a government job, serving the public becomes part of what I have undertaken to do. There may be occasions when that responsibility has to come first. If there is an emergency and no one else can do what is needed, I may have to miss a family dinner. But if an ordinary meeting can be moved and a parent needs me at a medical appointment, I should be prepared to move the meeting. In both cases, the question is who needs me, how urgently, and whether someone else can reasonably help.
I become particularly cautious when I hear
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