Editorial March 21, 1994 Issue

Sawdust, roof beams, and Christian morality

Mary Metzner Trammell

Even in a phone booth, there can be moral dilemmas. Not long ago, I went to a convention in New York City and had to make a call from the lobby of the hotel where my meeting was being held. The trouble was, there was only one phone booth—a booth about the size of a small closet, with four phones stuffed into it. As scores of conventioneers swarmed around the booth all day long, it seemed clear that making a call was going to be an elbow-to-elbow—and maybe even a dog-eat-dog—affair. And that's where Christian morality came in.

When it was finally my turn to go into the booth, I asked a woman using one of the phones if she'd mind stepping aside for a second so I could wedge past her to get to the free phone. She stared darts at me and told the person she was talking to on the phone, "I can't believe this woman expects me to move again!!" She did move, but looked pretty unhappy about it.

Unfortunately, the person I needed to reach was out. So I had to ask the woman who was mad at me to please move again and mumbled something about how I'd have to come back later. As she rolled her eyes in total exasperation, I knew she wasn't looking forward to my return!

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Sawdust, roof beams, and Christian morality

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