 |
The idea of 'honoring commitments' came up in today's Socrates Workshop on justice, and I am in a current quandary over the right course of action, and I thought it only right to share:
I love to garden. I always have--ever since I grew a GINORMOUS 700lb. giant pumpkin in 5th grade Ok, so it was really my dad doing all the work, but I still take credit for its success. Living in the graduate student dorms on Stanford's campus, I haven't had much of a chance to exercise my green thumb, but had success growing a small pot of basil, which, obviously, I named "Basil."
My friend, pseudonym Jenny, knew about my penchant for gardening. She was moving out of her apartment for the summer (she's studying in France), and suggested that I take care of her plants while she was gone. I thought this was a great idea--I was happy to help a friend, and, in addition to acting out some amazing Greek drama this summer, I could watch some plants grow: really, really slowly. So I agreed to take the plants under my watering wing--not having seen the plants themselves, but assuming they were in small pots (like my precious Basil) and would be instantly portable.
After wishing Jenny bon voyage and hosting out-of-town friends for a few days, I finally dropped by her old apartment to check out the plants--only to find them to be HUGE hostas, lavender, and plants I've never even seen before planted permanently in the ground around her apartment. Somebody else has since moved into the apartment, and I am torn whether I ought to awkwardly disinter these plants as the new residents look-on (or do I dig them up late at night in the dark?) and put them in LARGE pots which I don't really have the space to care for, or to break my commitment and tell Jenny that I didn't know exactly what I was committing to and that I can't take care of these plants.
What's the just thing to do?
|
