Angels & Demons

Remember in cartoons where there is a dilemma the character finds itself in and they are visited on each shoulder by good and bad?

The good angel is telling the character to do right whilst his adversary is coaxing the character to do wrong.

I've had plenty of moments through my lifetime where I had to face similar dilemmas. Some were funny, some not so.

DO IT!

The funniest moment I can think of was when I was celebrating my GCSE resit results. My friends and I set a time and place to meet up and I decided I would open up the bottle of Malibu I had brought home from Tenerife.
Big mistake.
I ended up having to ring my friends back up to tell them I'd meet them in the club instead as I wanted to finish off the bottle.
By the time I had had enough to drink, I was out of it.
My Father wasn't even sure I should go but I did my best to show him I wasn't that out of it.
He dropped me off outside town and I walked the rest of the way. I'll always remember the last thing he said to me that night - be careful.
It was raining at the time and I was walking by the Natwest Bank on Queen Street and there was a couple at the cashpoint with an umbrella.
Then came the devil on my shoulder.
'Hey, wouldn't it be funny if you tapped their umbrella and pretend you knew them?'
'Don't be so stupid,' came the wise words trying to stop this silly idea.
I couldn't resist.
The hand slapped against the umbrella.
'Hey!' I yelled, 'how's it going!?'
I must have looked like a right idiot.

DON'T DO IT!

I've probably written about this quite a few times on here but the moral dilemma I faced a number of years ago in work was one where I knew I had to do right even though I knew it could potentially stress me out.
One of my colleagues was involved in an altercation at work when two 'customers' came in and were looking for trouble. He had a knife in his hand while he told them to get lost and they left the building telling him they would be waiting outside for him. They had the place covered on both exits so my colleague rang the police. They came and arrested him as the two thugs said he was swinging the knife at them.
My colleague lost his job and I felt it was harsh as he wasn't 'swinging the knife in a threatening way' as the two guys claimed.
I went through a few days of thought over the incident and decided I would make a statement. The guy was only doing his job and he didn't deserve everything that happened.
I was told by other colleagues that I should just leave it but I just couldn't shake the feeling of wrong doing and I listened to my better conscience and did what should have been done.

You know, out of these two stories it's easy to see which was a real moral dilemma and one which is more cartoony but fits as a good contrast.

The moral of the story is - there is no angel or demon on your shoulder. You make your own choices.

Sometimes you do right.

And, at others, you're just the fool.