Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You leave the piglets where they are and head for home.
You think to yourself, "I know the barn manager would help, but it won't look good for me if I ask for help so soon in this new job. Perhaps he will think that I am not capable of doing my work properly. Besides, these piglets are doing fine. The runts have been managing to eat all day and even if they don't eat tonight, they will certainly survive until morning."
The next day, you arrive at work to discover that although most of the piglets are still OK, one has died during the night. You are required to report all piglet deaths to the barn manager. He immediately figures out what has happened and is very angry.
"You were told never to leave the piglets without fostering them for the night," he says angrily. "This is your last warning. If it ever happens again, you will lose your job." From then on, the barn manager doesn't trust you very much. You know it will take a long time before you can win back his respect.
Deanne Miller is a swine extension specialist and a former swine technician. "I never left without fostering the piglets at night," says Miller. "If you do that, they will die. It was my responsibility to be sure they were cared for properly."