You hear bizarre things waiting in line (or “queue” as the Brits say) at the Post Office. Shifting foot to foot, I observe businessmen obsessively monitor personal electronic devices. Frazzled mothers corral frenetic children while clutching burdensome boxes. Military families post compassionate care packages to deployed loved ones. Then, there’s me; appropriately adorned in matching Purdue sports attire, just call me coach. Doing the math, I divide the number of people ahead of me by the number of tellers, thus estimating just when my serendipitous moment will arrive!
Join me now in passing time judgmentally eavesdropping on conversation amongst fellow aspirants in line. You would think folks would be courteous enough to speak a wee bit louder to permit outsiders to overhear their private dialog! I strained to monitor one rather unique couple. Appearing in their late twenties, they better fit into an eco-friendly artsy community in northern California where Joan Baez folk music wafts amicably. Any moment I expected them to bust out the trail mix while standing comfortably in matching Birkenstock sandals.
Unable to hear the total context, one distinct line caught my ear. The pensive fellow confidently asserted to his female counterpart, (and I quote), “They do a really good job with flexible morality.” Desperately straining to hear more; frustrated, I caught nothing. Perhaps that was enough.
Pause and ponder the paradox: - just what is flexible morality?
Garnering no more from their conversation, I was inextricably left to my own musings. My mind dutifully mulled the abstract meaning and inevitable ramifications of so called flexible morality.
I shall spare you personal prejudicial comments. Besides, you already know what I think about morality, it’s objective basis and timeless standards. The point of this exercise is to leave you with your thoughts, just as I was, standing in the Post Office line.
Contemplate deeply the possibility -or impossibility- of flexible morality.