Dear Aunt Nell: Ethics can just plain suck.

Dear Reader,
You are invited to join me for a new way to reflect on the world around me. Perhaps together we can discover common interests, joys, and concerns in letters to Aunt Nell. 
Sincerely,
​Alice

Dear Aunt Nell,

I’ve kinda been at loose ends lately. Discontented might be a better way to put it. Did you feel like that when you retired?

I’m okay as long as I have a lunch date (or doctor’s appointment) to break up ​the week while Tom is at work. We’ve also had a lot of company lately as our friends near our former home have begun to venture out during the pandemic. I really enjoy entertaining in our new home!

Tom and I have also enjoyed Gracie’s weekly visits this summer. Between cooking, quilting, swimming and playing games, she keeps things hopping.

But some weeks have no plans. Some days it’s hard to think of a reason to get out of bed. And school is getting ready to start (whatever that’s looking like in this year of pandemic).

In the past, I have done some tutoring through a service. Recently, I was contacted about tutoring a group of students, four days a week, all school year. Sounded like just I was looking for and needing to feel useful.

​Here’s the thing, as Tom and I are transitioning into retirement, we’ve talked about financing a second car. The tutoring gig would more than pay for a car, plus a bit for traveling. Sweet!

But something just didn’t set right. Tom’s a peach and said the decision was up to me.

So I did a little research on the tutoring website and our state education website about tutoring situations like the one offered. Long story short, I had to turn it down. 

I don’t know, Aunt Nell, maybe it could have worked and we’d be looking at cars and trips. But, there was just too much gray area and my gut was screaming to put on the brakes. Sometimes having ethics can just suck!

You know what else, Aunt Nell? It may sound crazy, but there are times when I’m not sure what to do and I think about your generation. I think about the unbelievably hard decisions you were affected by during the Depression and World War II. And I thank God that there were men and women of integrity who changed their lives and ours because they chose to do the right thing.

Just in case no one’s told you lately, thank you for doing the right thing, even when it was hard.

Enough schmaltz for now. I’ll try to tone it down in my next letter. I love you very much, Aunt Nell!

​Alice