Choice - by Jeremy Abolitionist Choate In love with life and overcome with feelings of altruism, you and your friend, Randall, decide that you would like to perform some random act of kindness. You and he drive miles down a winding, snow-covered road into town where you spot a middle-aged woman, care-worn and struggling with a battered shopping cart. Touched with compassion for her plight, you both invite her back to your house for a hot meal and a warm bath to escape the bitter cold and to find relief from the hunger pangs that grip her body. With Ruth warmly tucked into the back seat, you and Randall begin the long journey back to your house, far out into the country, and after enjoying a satisfying meal, she slips into a hot tub of water, while you commence to burn the lice-infected clothes she was wearing when you found her. His participation in the act of kindness being completed, Randall takes his leave and drives away in the storm, leaving you alone with Ruth. After a few minutes, she emerges from the bathroom wrapped in your favorite robe, wearing your favorite slippers, and shuffling meekly toward the spare bedroom. Wait a minute, you protest. This wasnt part of the deal. When I brought you here, it was for a meal and a bath, only. What gives you the right to put on MY robe, MY slippers, and make yourself at home in MY spare bedroom? I didnt consent to anything more than the meal and the bath, and I want you to take off my robe, take off my slippers, and get out of my house, this instant. Confused and hurt, Ruth stares out the window at the knee-deep snow and the howling wind blowing through the leafless trees and looks at you pleadingly, but you refuse to relent. You didnt ask for this. You simply wanted to make yourself feel good by helping a stranger. You didnt realize that your act of kindness would lead to any type of commitment, nor did you consent to it. Ruth asks for her clothes back, at the very least, but you inform her that theyve already been destroyed. She knows that going out in such a storm, naked, miles from nearest house will mean certain death, but while she pleads with you to show her mercy, you are unmoved by her appeals. You are well aware that the winter in these parts will certainly drag on for several more months, and you bristle at the thought of this intruder staying in your home, eating your food, and wearing your clothes until the spring thaw. You dont even know this person. What if she kills you in your sleep? No, no, this cannot be allowed to stand. How can you be expected to maintain the social life youve always enjoyed with this person staying in your house? Youve got plans for the winter that dont involve taking care of some homeless person you picked up off the street. But Ruth cant leave. She cant survive in the blizzard that rages outside, but you refuse to give her any of your clothing or allow her to sleep in your spare bed. And you simply must regain your autonomy. Randall says he knows someone who takes care of problems for a manageable fee. So, for the time being, you lead Ruth to believe that youve had a change of heart. You give her your favorite flannel pajamas. You prepare three hot meals a day for her. You let her sleep in your own bed while you take the spare. And one night, while she peacefully slumbers, awash in your kindness and overjoyed that she wont have to endure the harsh winter alone, freezing, and hungry........you pay a monster to murder her in your bed.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 06:39:09 +0000
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