I took the easy way out and someone else paid the price

A few years ago, I was working at a job I absolutely hated. The workload was insane, the management was clueless, and the pay wasn’t even worth it. But the worst part? The mistakes. Everyone was so overworked that things were constantly slipping through the cracks, and eventually, something big went wrong.

It wasn’t my mistake, but I knew I was in the perfect position to take advantage of the situation. There was another guy on the team which is nice enough, but kind of unreliable. He had already been written up a few times for messing up deadlines, so when our boss started asking questions about what went wrong, I just… let them assume it was him.

I didn’t outright lie, but I didn’t correct them either. I let them believe he was the one who dropped the ball. A week later, he got let go. People whispered about how unfair it was, but no one could prove anything. Meanwhile, I kept my job, got a pat on the back for “keeping things in check,” and even got a small raise a few months later.

At first, I told myself it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t tell a lie—I just didn’t tell the truth. But over time, it started eating at me. What if that guy really needed that job? What if I had just spoken up instead of looking out for myself? I still think about it sometimes, and even though I know I can’t change the past, I can’t shake the feeling that I did something really, really wrong.