Tonight I found myself in a situation darkly reminiscent of middle school. I was sitting around talking with a few acquaintances when another person we all knew was brought up in a negative light, and an eighth-grade cafeteria romp was laid on this person's character. I had had no previous interaction with the topic of conversation, but it didn't feel right to be talking that way about a person when he had no means to defend himself against the ugly accusations. Now I had to decide what to do. If I stood up for him I would feel much better about myself, perhaps healing the wounds from when I was on the reverse side of this assault; or I could say nothing, let the night sail smoothly on, and listen as the conversation carried on to another subject.
I always find myself thinking in terms of black and white, taking sides or riding the fence, standing up or saying nothing instead of striving to find the gray lurking in the middle. I eventually decided to simply steer the conversation in another direction, but was that enough? If I don't punish them for talking that way then they will surely do it again when I am not around, but can I be the judge here? It really comes down to justice, a person should not lobby an attack like that without allowing a rebuttal from the defendant. This is sounding a lot like a court show, but there's a reason they organized it that way, it allows both sides to speak their peace in an organized fashion. Maybe I should make a social court show...
