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
Your best pal, whom you’ve known for 20 years, comes out with you and your group of friends each Friday night. All of you meet up in groups of two or three, each with a designated driver.
Your friend, you’ve noticed, always comes in his own car straight from work. He always drives home alone and you sometimes think he seems a little inebriated.
Over the years, you’ve spoken with him several times about it. You have tried on many occasions to get him to designate a driver, give up his keys, or take a cab home. He always declines and you don’t push the issue despite your concerns.
Legal or not, you feel a sense of responsibility for his behavior and for “allowing” him to drive by not forcibly stopping him.
During one of your Friday nights, you all go out to a ball game. Everyone is having a great time, and those not designated as drivers are having several beers. The game runs long, and by the end your friend seems to be unsteady on his feet. And there is a complication: on this particular night, some family members have come along and your friend has his young son with him.
What do you think of the situation? Is this a time you would put your foot down and insist one of the drivers take him and his son home? Do you think he would be more likely to listen to reason for his child’s sake, even though he has ignored you in the past? Would you refuse to let him put his son into his vehicle if he ignored your logic?
Do you call the police and restrain him in the parking lot until he can be given a sobriety test? Do you relent, and just let him drive home with his boy?
How would you feel about your friend if the situation was handled calmly and everyone was driven home safely? Would you feel differently about him — despite the long years between you — if he was belligerent and drove home?
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