While working his first day at a pizza parlor, Alex,
Wanting to make himself useful, decided to prepare
One of the food orders. The order called for a meatball
Sub, which needed to be prepared & heated up. At that time
Of the day, it was quite hectic & everyone else in
The kitchen was rushing about to keep up with the
Other orders.

The oven for heating the sub had a conveyor belt, so
That when a pizza was prepared & placed on the far end
Of the conveyor belt, the belt would run the pizza into
The inside of the oven. By the time the belt brought the
Pizza out the other side, it was cooked to the correct
Temperature. Alex placed the sub on the conveyor belt
On the opening side of the oven & went to do other work.

A few minutes later Alex heard a booming voice "Who did
This?" Everyone, including Alex, stopped what they were
Doing and turned to see an angry, red-faced manager
Standing next to the oven. Next to the manager was a
Very-burnt meatball sub. Alex then also noticed that the
Oven had a small door in the front, which was directly
In-between the opening & ending sides of the oven (at
The half-way point between where he had placed the sub
& where it had come out of the oven). He realized
Instantly that the small door was the location where he
Should have placed the sub, not the on opening side of
The oven. It had been overcooked as a result of his
Mistake.

Not wanting to face the humilatation for his mistake
(or the wrath of the red-faced manager), Alex gave no
Reply to the loud inquiry, but went back to his work as
If nothing had happened. He took to heart the lesson
& was careful not to repeat the same mistake.

Was it unethical of Alex to clam up & not admit his
Mistake?

This question was posed to gain YOUR opinions on it.
So what do YOU think ?

His not saying anything is a lie, since by keeping quiet he pretended he did not know anything about it.
To bosses who may have known he did it, it shows he can not be trusted with more duties.

He should approach the manager and tell him he has learned from the mistake

He definetely should have admitted he was the one who made the error. Perhaps to the point of offering to pay for the sub. Considering it does not sound as though he was authorized to be in that capacity of preparing sandwiches as he had not been trained. Even though he was trying to help out,he should not have taken on the responsibility # 1 and # 2 to make matters worse for himself, lie about it by not manning up when everyone else working had to know it was him. DUH!