Friday Freebies: The Complexity of Kindness

Last night, I sat by the side of the road, watching my friend hold the hand of a drunk, suicidal guy, and I held my cell in my hand, listening to the 911 dispatch and waiting for the ambulance.

And all I could think of was, "When he was five, he didn't plan on growing up to be a drunk." He didn't graduate high school and say to himself, "Yeah, when I'm fifty-five, I want to collapse on the side of the road and have strangers coming to my aide."

Is it kindness or enabling to phone for...