reliability
Reliability is the disco ball of social virtues: it must spin endlessly yet only shatter into headlines when broken. Ideally, it performs invisibly, a ghost among achievements. In practice, a single crack turns it into an immortal source of blame and endless excuses. Claiming high reliability is code for hiding the catastrophic fallout when things go wrong. Ultimately, reliability is the bifurcated emblem we demand from others but conveniently shelf in ourselves.