Dear Karma Cleanser:
I am not sure which category this may fall under, because I guess it is a little bad and a little good. At a Halloween party, I found myself making out in the bathroom with someone else's boyfriend. Bad, I know. But the girlfriend wasn't there (not so bad) and she's been going around with her ex-boyfriend for many moons now (shame on her) and hasn't tried to hide it from him.
My girlfriends are glad that something good seems to be on the horizon for him and say he would be a great match for me. But I think that the sober thing would have been to wait until they had reached the end of their road, if that is truly where they are going.
You're rationalizing your actions with a little relationship relativism. "Nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so," your inner Hamlet seems to say, which is how you can shrug off your "bad" Halloween incident with the potential "good" of this guy dumping his slutty girlfriend and getting with you. Recuse yourself from the situation. Wait to see how their situation plays out before you insert yourself back into the equation. Listen to Hamlet and choose the path of inaction -- for now.
Dear Karma Cleanser:
My friend Danny and I went to the best Thai restaurant in town. It was a slow Monday night, and the owner of the restaurant, who is always very friendly, made us feel very welcome as he seated us. We ordered soup, and when it came out, it was terrible. It was cold and had no flavor. Danny sent the soup back, and the owner came over to us and apologized. We were not rude back, we just said it was not a big deal.
When our food came, Danny did not like what he had ordered. My choice was better. But I was about halfway through the dish when I spotted a small black hair in the sauce. I stopped eating immediately, but decided not to say anything because of our earlier soup problem. Danny noticed I wasn't eating and asked if he could have the rest of my dish. I said yes.
Now I feel bad because I kept my mouth shut, but I did not want to cause another scene.
-- My hands were Thai'd
A gracious host can be a gift from the gods -- but you can't let that excuse gross kitchen blunders. Giving your friend the contaminated dish may have helped you save face in the moment (and avoid an awkward run-in with the restaurateur) but we're foreseeing dark days ahead for your culinary karma. Quickly, take your pal Dan out to the eatery of his choice. Pick up the tab. And ask around what's the second best Thai in town.
Been bad? karmacleanser@gmail.com.