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
After a great holiday meal, you and your niece decide to stay up and go shopping at the early, early morning sales on Black Friday. One of the big box stores is selling a popular game system very inexpensively, and you would like to get one for your house. Your niece wants to pick one up too.
Arriving in the early morning hours at the store, you wait in line along with hundreds of other shoppers. Precisely on time, the doors open and everyone moves in, shoving a little but mostly calm.
You and your companion head straight for electronics, and quickly reach a stack of the game systems — already half gone and with more people grabbing by the second.
As your niece grabs two, you see a young man yank a box out of the hands of an elderly woman, knocking her off balance for a moment. She recovers herself and you see the young man starts to walk away.
You tell your niece what has happened, and the two of you help capture one of the last boxes for the woman. She smiles as you give it to her, and thanks you for your help.
Heading to the line, you end up behind the young man who had taken the box away from the elderly woman.
Do you think something should be said to him about his behavior? Do you think at that late hour, you might confront him? Or would you be less willing because it was the middle of the night and dark outside?
What if you knew the cashier checking him out? Do you think you would be more likely to mention the incident if you felt you had this type of “backup”?
Alternatively, what if the elderly woman had fallen but not been hurt? Do you think it would be your responsibility to notify the store manager? Or do you think it best to be silent?
