The dilemma

Now this is a typical daily dilemma I enjoy encountering. I see it as a test. A test of morals, ethics and lifestyle.

My company has a "Travel and Expense" policy. You know the sort. A formal document that outlines what the company will pay for when you travel and what they will not. It's clear and long. Most of it makes sense.

There is one area that I kind of get, but it can be complex to figure out.

It is called the "annual allowance". It is a paid out monthly, tax free, and you receive it to cover incidentals, eg a coffee at the airport, a colleague's birthday cake, a magazine subscription or a professional membership. It's not a huge amount, so don't get excited, but its an on-top-of-salary bit of cash.

It makes sense and cuts back on admin I would guess. Many people use it for what it's intended, others just pocket it and don't buy the stuff it's mean to cover.

One thing that this allowance clearly covers is local public transport, namely tram and bus tickets. Again in terms of incidentals this makes perfect sense. However the issue herein, is that taxis are considered, outside of this allowance. Taxis are thus expensable.

So in short, if I take a taxi, the company pays, if I take public transport they do not and I do.

I guess you have worked out where I am going with this.

This morning I needed to get to the airport. It is easy to get to the airport by bus. Very easy.

The ticket would cost me 2.80 CHF. The taxi about 30 CHF. Thus 10 times more costly. Very significant.  The 2.80 I would pay myself, out of my pocket. The 30 I would get reimbursed by the company.

So what do you do? A dilemma?

Well I gave this a lot of thought. As this trip to the airport, is not a one off ocurrence, I will be taking this route, 2 times a week.

So here are the things I thought about, before I made the choice.

The environment
Speed of arrival
Comfort level
The "right" choice
The sustainability
My preference of travel
Cost

The one that stuck with me most was the ethical dilemma. Doing the right thing.

So with that guiding principle, I got on the bus. (Are you proud Dad?)

So there you have it. My dilemma, solved by ethics (and the fact that 2.80 CHF is really quite a reasonable amount.)

However a little caveat has to be mentioend here. I did make a pact with myself that if I have to go to the airport very early or very late, then a taxi is absolutely the right decision.

That seemed fair.

I love dilemma's. You had any good ones recently?