The furor the past several weeks over the firing of two Ralphs employees is making The Malibu Times a difficult paper to digest. Almost every letter says that it is wrong or immoral to sell alcohol to minors, yet everyone is willing to turn the cheek in the case of these two employees.
Think further down the road here. What if the students had an accident on PCH-something that we have been accustomed to-and killed someone? From a legal standpoint, what kind of a position would that have put Ralphs in?
Everyone knows what’s right and what is wrong. It’s not until we get the attorneys involved that all sorts of gray come to the front. (Remember: “it depends on what your definition of “is” is.” What non-sense!)
What they did was wrong! Pure and simple. Were they nice people? Yes. Did they make a mistake? Yes. Have I made mistakes? Yes. Are some mistakes too grievous considering the possible outcome? Yes. (Just ask Trent Lott).
Certainly they are not the only ones who have made a mistake here. If Pepperdine does not expel the students then the University will have wronged the City of Malibu once again. Shouldn’t a university that is founded in religious principals do the right thing? It will be interesting to see what they do.
Finally, why is it that nobody can take responsibility for his or her actions? Why is it always the other guy? The two employees should be fired, the two students expelled, and Pepperdine must take a more proactive position on their campus. Let’s start over with a clean slate.
Peter Heller