Take The High Road Or Punch Her In The Face?

A few weeks ago a friend of mine returned home to be accosted with the evidence of egregious behavior on the part of her fiancé.  Words were had, and the relationship went into a nosedive.

In a message to me yesterday she wrote “…I will continue to be a lady and take the high road in all dealings with him, and will forge ahead with my life and my projects.”

Taking A Walk On The High Road

Later in the afternoon, while pondering the complexities of unravelling a long-term relationship, I received an unrelated email from someone outlining the specifics of a financial transaction, which made me feel that I was being nickeled and dimed: I paid for this, you paid this much for that, this costs X so you owe me Y.

Reading the email I could feel my blood pressure rising and I wanted to get on my soap box and pontificate about the cost of intangibles and experiences and how fundamentally, asking for reimbursement showed the lack of depth of moral character.

Instead I went to Starbucks and got a Frappuccino.

I started thinking about that High Road upon which we aspire to travel.

What exactly is on that High Road, other than moral justification?  My mother was always reinforcing the long term benefits of the High Road, and I often wondered, wouldn’t punching someone feel so much better?, especially in the short term, than the quiet, long-term platitudes of right action?

Having never actually punched someone, I really can’t answer that, but I do know that I have a permanent boulder in my throat from swallowing so much anger en route to the High Road.  It never occurred to me that my friend wouldn’t act like a lady and take the High Road, or that I won’t write a check to cover the difference, but wouldn’t life be so much more interesting if everything poured out, unfiltered and unedited.  If we just said what we feel or think at any given point in time – a verbal knock-out as it were.  (Probably not – that’s what The Real Housewives is for…)

So we amble on to our High Roads.  Some are higher than others, I presume.  As with anything there are different degrees in the hierarchy of right action.  But one thing I’m sure of – the High Road may be densely populated, but it’s a quiet, and often lonely road.