Some situations are viewed in black and white; right and wrong. Yet, many people think situations also have a grey area where solutions are not so easily discerned. This is not just about the choices people make, but the thought process they go through to arrive at their decisions.
What Do You Think? Submitted for Your Consideration and Conversation
You and your sister are quite close. You’ve been pals through childhood, adulthood, married life, and parenthood. She is very dependable and you trust her so much that you and your husband named her as your children’s guardian in your wills.
You’ve always found your sister to be logical, and a good person to bounce ideas off of when you aren’t sure what to do. The last thing you would expect is for her to do something out of the ordinary.
Then one evening, your phone rings as you are heading off to bed. It is your sister, breathless, and she says she has just seen an unidentified flying object hovering over their house.
She goes into long detail of how the craft hovered over their house, making no noise, and shining a bright purple light on her for several minutes. She tells you she couldn’t move while it scanned her, and that she yelled for her husband when the light went off and the craft rose into the sky.
You are shocked, as you never really believed in UFOs and aliens from other planets. You can’t think of anything to say when she asks, “Can you believe it?”
After listening to her excited story a little longer, you tell her you will come see her the next day after work and end the phone call.
The following evening, you stop by and she is still in the same, excited state. She tells you the story again, wide-eyed and sincerely. Mostly you listen, not sure what to ask or what you think of the event.
While you haven’t believed any UFO sighting reports before, you see that she truly believes that what she saw has no other explanation. She gives you many reasons why the craft could not be a helicopter, toy, airplane, or balloon.
When she goes into the kitchen for coffee, you talk with her husband and ask him what he saw. He tells you that he only saw something move in the sky, but from what he saw “it could have been a UFO, or just an ordinary helicopter or something.’ He isn’t sure what to think of his wife’s exuberance, but feels it’s best to not burst her bubble since he can’t say for sure what he saw.
You support your sister as best you can, even though you are skeptical of what really happened to her the night before. Being careful of her feelings, you chat with her a little longer and then go home.
Two days later, your sister calls to say that the local news is coming out to talk with her about the UFO. She will be on the 11pm news telling her story! Her hope, she says, is that someone will see the news and maybe come forward with photos or video of the craft.
Now you’re at a crossroads. Do you support your sister and assume that — with her logical mind — she must have seen something unusual? Or, do you think you should caution her about going public to avoid being judged by neighbors? Do you think you’d ever trust her to baby-sit your kids again? Or, do you think you’d start to believe in UFOs?
09012011
