Saturday Scruples!

1. Playing golf, you hit the ball into the woods. Your partner isn't around. Do you place the ball on the fairway?No. That would be cheating. But I wouldn’t anguish over this, since the chance of my ever setting a foot on a golf course again is very slim indeed. (There was that summer when I was convinced that mowing greens would be a fabulous, outdoorsy, pro-feminist job........it didn’t quite work out that way. At least I came away from the job slightly wiser, with my dignity and digits intact.)

2. Your spouse has become a nervous wreck since s/he began trading stocks on the Internet. But s/he's made $10K in two months. Do you make him/her stop?I would implore him to stop. Not sure if I could make him. We could coast for quite a while on $10K. Maybe I’d try to convince him to do it every other month? Pace himself?

3. The only other person at the bus stop - a poorly dressed, overweight man - is crying. Do you express concern?Of course. I don't think the fact that he is fat and poorly dressed would make a difference. Some might think that would make him more suspect, but that's not necessarily so. (Hey, I've seen American Psycho. I didn't enjoy it, but I saw it. If there was one redeeming lesson: dressed well doesn't mean good person. Oh, and that poor Christian Bale, he was such a nice boy in Little Women. I'm trying to put the whole mess out of my mind.) Not condescending, but truly concerned. It’s hard to say exactly what I would do, since the particulars of the situation could vary. Anything from a simple, “Bad day, huh?” to a more pressing inquiry as to his need for help.