Moral Dilemmas

I am faced with choices daily, hourly, sometimes minutely. It is not always easy to make the right choice. In "The Goonies" and "Indiana Jones'" movies, making the wrong choice has dire consequences. I'm not referring to that type of choices, just the common, ordinary kind.

1. You are in the rest room of a restaurant, alone, and you find a small wad of bills. Do you -
a. scoop it up and quickly pocket it, counting it later?
b. leave it where it is?
c. pick up the money and hand it to a restaurant employee?

2. In the checkout line at the grocery store, you notice that the cashier failed to charge you for an item. Do you -
a. say nothing?
b. point out the omission to the cashier?
c. tell the store manager that the cashier is giving away the stock?

3. Your boss' boss' boss has called you by the wrong name for years. Do you -
a. continue to smile and greet him under the false name?
b. quietly take him aside and tell him that he's been making a fool of himself with your cooperation?
c. correct him loudly at the next departmental meeting?

4. You are unable to get a Walt Disney World restaurant reservation for two. You have heard that it is sometimes possible to get a reservation for three, rather than two, as there are more tables for four than two. Do you -
a. after failing to get a reservation for two, just take your chances and appear at the restaurant full of hope?
b. make the reservation for three or four and then once you appear before the hostess, say that the rest of the party could not make it?
c. decide that you don't really want to eat there after all if your money-for-two isn't good enough for them?

5. You shopped at a large-chain discount store, buying heavily, receiving many bags full of stuff. A day or two later you realize that you can't find a few of the items you purchased, although they are listed on your receipt. Do you -
a. call the store, filled with indignation, and ask what they are going to do about it?
b. blame yourself for not being more observant when the items were bagged; do you really want to drive 20 miles for a few lost items?
c. decide to tell the manager next time you go to the store, hoping you will remember the receipt to use as back-up?

5a. If you return to the store and get either a refund or free replacement of the missing items, and then, days later, you find the supposedly missing items in the car trunk, in another bag, or somewhere else among your possessions, do you -
a. immediately return the surplus items?
b. feel guilty but keep the surplus items, rationalizing that somehow, some way, they owe it to you?
c. make a pie crust promise to yourself to some day soon either return the surplus items or tell the manager and pay the store back?

6. Your favorite drive-thru has been sadly lacking in speed and accuracy lately, but they still have the best fast food. Today they gave you more food than you ordered and paid for, and you don't discover it until after you have left the pick-up window. Do you -
a. go back through the line and return the overage?
b. decide they owe it to you as compensation for the hurt feelings they have been causing you?
c. throw the extra food out the car window in small pieces for the birds and squirrels and other non-guilt feeling creatures?

7. You are sitting in your car in a shopping center parking lot, and you watch as a driver in a car damages another car, parks in a spot nearby, and then walks into the store. Do you -
a. drive away shaking your head, dismayed at what this world has come to?
b. write down the number plate and wait for the owner of the damaged vehicle to return to the scene of the crime and share the information?
c. go let the air out of the tires of the car that did the damage?

You didn't think I was going to tell you the right answers, did you? Since we all have different consciences, then maybe we all have different right answers.

Sail Away From Falmouth...

Cape Cod is charming, off the beaten path, and a tourist's dream destination. Maybe the miles and miles of heavy and slow/stopped traffic along the way make it that much sweeter. Not only is the Cape a great place to visit, it's a great place to live. In the summertime the traffic gets annoying, often aggravating, but we take pride in knowing and discovering shortcuts to avoid some of it. We've lived here 24 years, long enough to wonder why we see so many cars from Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Don't they share the same ocean? Why is it better here? When we start thinking this way, it's time to head for Martha's Vineyard, because we still find it charming, off the beaten path, and a tourist's dream destination.

We catch the Island Queen in Falmouth, and relax for the half hour boatride. There are sailboats, fishing boats, cigarette boats, and jet skis to watch along the way. The sun is on our faces, the wind whips through our hair, and we are getting a combination wind & sunburn, and we like it. The sky is blue (at $18/pp we make sure to go on a sunny day), the water is sparkling, and we pretend we are on vacation. Once at the dock in Oak Bluffs, we stay in our orange plastic seats until the parents, children, babies, bicycles, and dogs have disembarked, then we follow. Passengers leaving the boat are greeted by happy islanders, family or friends already staying on the island, taxi and tour bus drivers, and hopeful seagulls. Spouse has told me that in the 1950s, arrivals were also greeted by young boys in the water begging for coins to be tossed into the harbor for capture.

Walking along the harborside, we look at the other people, the cars, mopeds, skooters, and bicycles for rent. $100 for a small 4 door is excessive, and if we want to get around we buy a bus pass for less than $10/pp and can ride around the island all day. It stops in Edgartown, and we have been there many times, enjoying the cobblestone streets, the deli's excellent sandwiches, and Murdick's fudge. Yum. Just riding the bus and seeing the beaches, homes, and the people is a good time. Not having to drive in the bumper-to-bumper traffic in the towns' centers is a good time.

The towns have their own particular attractions, but my favorite has always been Oak Bluffs. This is where spouse's father and grandfather were born, where he lived for ten years as a child, and where his parents are buried. Deep roots.
Spouse's family lived in a campground house, home of the Gingerbread Houses. Today the area looks like something out of a fairytale. At the very center is the Tabernacle, an opensided and airy building used for church services, community sings, and special events. It is also a good place to eat a take-out lunch. Surrounding the Tabernacle is a soft blanket of shaded green grass with benches, and a great place to sit, relax, and eat the fudge bought in Edgartown, or at the Murdick's in Oak Bluffs. As we walk throught the Campgrounds, spouse tells me the names of all the people who lived in the houses when he lived here and the mischief he used to get into. Also the mischief that he did not get into but was blamed for.


When it's time for lunch we have a lot of choices along Circuit Avenue, but usually end up at Giordano's, which has been there for decades, and meets our high standards. Pizza, sandwiches, and fried clams are the highlights of the menu for us. We visit some of the gift shops, and sometimes buy touristy things. Spouse talks about the past with store clerks, but he seldom finds anyone who knew people he knew. You can go home again, but maybe no one will know you.

Everything about Oak Bluffs lowers my blood pressure. When we go with the fam, we stay five or six hours, and we see and do it all. When it's just the two of us, three hours is enough time. As we walked back to the dock, spouse stopped to look at some rental cars? go-karts? tricycles with sides? and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that he needs to go back to MV to rent one.
This might have an adverse affect on my blood pressure...