Moral Dilemma

When a boat goes down, should women and children be able to jump to the front of the lifeboat queue?

The death toll from the Costa Concordia tragedy has reached five, and more stories are emerging about the chaos inside the luxury cruise liner as it started to go down.

Melbourne mother Michelle Barraclough told the Herald Sun that she had to fight hysterical adults to hold on to her 12-year-old daughter, and that the men were the worst.

Continue reading "Women and children first, or every man for himself?" »

Welcome to our regular Friday moral dilemma. This week: How much power do brides have over their bridesmaids? Is it OK to boot someone out of the wedding party because they rudely got preggo?

We all know the Bridezilla stereotype… and that it exists because there really are women who turn into heavy-breathing tantrum-throwing monsters in the lead up to the happiest day of their lives.

Brides obviously deserve some sort of say. The good Christian bride might say ‘no’ to her sister’s Antichrist-themed ra-ra skirt, for example. There may be a colour theme, or the bride could be afraid of the colour purple. These things happen.

Continue reading "Friday Dilemma: Do brides get to be dictators?" »

Anonymous writes: Dear Punch. Please help me properly direct my anger.

I’m set to fly to Sydney in a few weeks for a long-awaited, much-anticipated blokes’ weekend but our plans are under threat from this Qantas strike action. Normally I’d have no issue railing against the fat cats at the top.

Continue reading "Friday’s Dilemma: Hate Qantas or the workers?" »

You’re driving along the motorway playing “eye spy with my little eye”. That’s when you see it. Three massive suitcases full to the brim with cold, hard cash. Yep, the real McCoy. Nobody else is around and your tank is full of petrol.

This is exactly what happened on a on a slip road near Bad Kissingen in Bavaria this week and the driver handed all of the money back. Wow.

Here’s what The Punch team would do. What about you?

Lucy: I’d take two of the three suitcases because as Meatloaf said, that ain’t bad. And who says you can’t please everyone? The cops get some, along with a new case to investigate and you get a longer holiday.

Ant: I’d take the lot. No honest citizen carries cash in suitcases let alone leaves it by the road. You’re not a bad Samaritan if you spend someone elses’s ill-gotten gains. And you can quote me on that.

Tory: I’d sit on it until I could work out where the money came from, and who would be out of pocket. Then I’d decide. If it was ill-gotten gains I’d keep some then give a bunch to charity to assuage my guilt.

Anonymous says:

“A little while ago, a friend of mine who I hadn’t seen for a while invited me to lunch. Over lunch she discussed how she’d recently moved forward in her career and had enrolled in a few courses to build her confidence and help with her work portfolio.  She invited me along to a party for the end of her latest course, I accepted. I arrived in the foyer of the venue, all dressed up, to find that in order to get in, I needed to fill out a form asking for my personal details and then put on a name tag.  Alarm bells started ringing.

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: Help! My friend’s joined a cult" »

Anonymous says:

“It is my fervent hope, as I’m sure it is the hope of every citizen of the world, that every decent citizen of the world enjoys a long and fruitful life. Sadly, war, disease, pestilence and accidents tragically cut many lives short. One such instance was that of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died in a road accident in Paris in August, 1997.

When Princess Diana died, there was a huge upwelling of grief from around the world, and especially in the British Commonwealth. For some reason, I didn’t share this emotion.

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: I didn’t cry about Princess Di" »

Anonymous says:

When I was younger and a backpacker, I met and had a spectacular holiday fling with a New Zealand guy. It lasted about six weeks. We hit it off so well that we swapped email addresses and stayed in touch for several years, sometimes meeting up when he traveled this way for work. The last time he visited, caught up in memories of great times and the stresses of real life (we are both now married), we kissed. I have never mentioned it to partner. Recently my friend has contacted me again. My husband, being none the wiser, has encouraged me to meet up. I got butterflies when I heard from him again. Does this mean I shouldn’t go?

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: Should I meet up with an old flame?" »

Anonymous says:

“While searching around Facebook for a rellie of mine the other night, I came across my niece, my brother’s daughter. I haven’t spoken to or seen him for years. I don’t like him one little bit. Now here’s my problem. My niece has her profile set for the whole world to see and being a 19-year-old you can just imagine the crap that’s on her page. The way employers are using social networking sites to dig into the lives of potential employees these days, she wouldn’t even be considered for a job.

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: My niece is exposing herself on Facebook" »

One of The Punch’s team members has had a very bad week. Their youngest kid wrecked their fancy schmancy $1500 Apple Mac - their home computer, not their work one - and it is beyond repair.

The little rascal in question is four years old, and shouldn’t have been on the computer by himself in the first place. Kids today, huh?

So let’s cut to the chase. Should the kid be disciplined? And if so, how? No lollies forever? A good hard smack? A stern talking to?

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: Kid wrecks computer, how to punish?" »

Anonymous says:

Can you really call someone a friend if they lie to you all the time? I’m starting to wonder if a once-close friend is now worth having at all. It’s not like they’re big or crazy lies, they’re just a series of continuous small ones about silly little life things (work, friendships, money) but they’re starting to add up and it’s driving me crazy. Actually, it’s making me upset.

It all started about a year ago when I made a big change in my life with my husband. At first it felt like she was keeping her distance from me, our conversations became less regular and things felt strained. But when I asked her about what she might be feeling, she’d just make up an excuse or tell me I was imagining it. One year on though and it’s starting to be confusing. Especially as I keep finding out through one way or the other (including sometimes from her partner) that what she tells me is actually not the truth.

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: My friend is a liar, should I ditch her?" »

Anonymous says:

“I’m wasting far too much time explaining myself to beggars and charities. I have my regular folks that I support, so I’m not a total Scrooge. But I have so many doubts over where the money is going if you just hand it out willy nilly in the streets that now I just keep my purse in my bag. 

And I know I should avoid eye contact and just keep walking, but I feel compelled to justify my apparent tight-arsery. So I’m on a street corner explaining to some poor old duck from the Deaf Association that I’m really sorry but I’ve read their administrative costs are too high so I don’t want to give to them (hoping she could lip read).

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: Should I give to beggars on the street?" »

Anonymous says:

My friend and I went on a hen’s weekend. I arranged all of our accommodation, air tickets, and so on. Because I was prone to separation anxiety, I had my husband and daughter come down and stay in another part of the hotel and I visited them from time to time and they went shopping and spent time with a friend and his family.

Coming home, we were all delayed by five hours. My husband, a valued flyer with the airline in question, was sent a $200 travel voucher as compensation for the inconvenience. I was not. I duly informed the airline that I was on that flight along with my friend and we were all inconvenienced. I was sent a voucher for $400 - one voucher, no name, just “bearer”.

Since receiving that voucher, my friend’s husband has been abusive to me and our friendship has eased off a bit. Forget the moral side of it, what’s my legal position? It’s my voucher right?

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: Friends and money" »

Anonymous says:

“A friend of mine recently told me that her new, obviously unstable neighbour came over to her house a couple of nights ago and during conversation brought up the fact that he kept a kitten in a cage and kicked it to make himself feel better. She has no doubts this is fact, and she has no qualms about reporting this but she is also very aware that he will know it was her that reported him and is fearful of her safety. Is it still valid to save the life of an animal for the sake of your own safety?”

Can you help this reader? Add your advice below.

Anonymous says:

I moved into my new house eighteen months ago now and have been struggling with receiving mail from the old owner ever since. I have reported it to the real estate agent and dropped bundles off more then once. I have RTS’d it with “no longer at this address” clearly written on the front, but it is still arriving. In October last year a Myer One envelope arrived and I could feel that there was a card in it…

I opened it to obtain Myer’s number to phone them and advise of the change of address (as I had sent it back to them before) and I sat on hold for over 20 minutes before I gave up. There was a $105 rewards card in there. I stared at it for weeks and then I spent it. Yesterday $20 arrived… Can I keep spending it or should I bin it to obtain sleep at night? I really enjoy the miscellaneous purchases I made with that $105.

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: opening somebody else’s mail" »

Here at The Punch, we pride ourselves on bringing you the big issues. This is not one of them.

That said, Punchie Ant Sharwood has been bugging me all week with this dilemma. Over to you, Ant.

So I’m sitting outside the mall with a tray of cheap takeaway sushi the other day. Two boofy tradesmen sit next to me and light up a B&H each. And I can’t bring myself to eat my sushi in front of them. I just can’t. It just feels way too… effeminate or something.

To be honest, I don’t even know why I bought the sushi in the first place. Normally I’m a laksa kinda dude if I’m having cheap mall Asian takeaway. Pretty sure I felt like something healthy that day, but I wish I’d just stuck to my culinary guns. I hate sushi. It’s clammy. Bleah.

By the way, the sushi joint was full of women. It was like an episode of Sex and the City in there. Subliminally, I think they were telling me something.

Look, I have no need to affirm my masculinity through food, or through anything really. But I just can’t help thinking that if you’re not Japanese, then sushi is fare that should be reserved for the fairer sex. Am I right or am I right?

Anonymous says:

“I changed jobs a few months ago, and at my leaving drinks a colleague told me about a senior manager who was basically stealing from the company. He had a lot of evidence, but made me promise not to tell anyone about it. They both still work there. This is a large global company who has axed a heap of people over recent years due to budget cuts. Should I report his actions to the CEO? Or should I just stay out of it since I no longer work there?”

Punch deputy editor Ant Sharwood was annoying me senseless with this problem the other day. Can anyone please put him out of his misery?

I’m back from holidays and I absolutely just give up on my sock drawer. During the week, I mostly wear thin black socks but I swear, I don’t have a single matching pair at the moment.

Maybe they’re lost in the wash. Maybe the cat ate them. Maybe they’ve been abducted by aliens. Either way, I am sockless and miserable. Well, pairless anyway. And I want new ones.

So here’s the dilemma. Should I buy three or four pairs like I always do, and sort through the rubble of my existing sock collection in the hope that a few end up matching?

Or should I bite the bullet, throw all my socks out and buy 20 or 30 pairs in one targeted raid on the David Jones/Myer sockwear department. I’ve never done that before. It seems almost gluttonous. But by jingoes, I’m tempted…

Should Ant help generate a sock-led retail recovery? Add your suggestions below

Anonymous says:

“I was at Town Hall station once and this woman didn’t have a ticket. She was about 22-24 - so young and a bit stupid to run from transit cops who look like Fascist’s anyway. One of the four transit cops (yes four) who chased her grabbed her bag and the contents spilled everywhere and her phone broke. I was just through the turnstile and stopped. Two more transit cops came over and stood over her so there were 6. She was crying and shaking when she stood up and they issued her a ticket.

Should I have gone back in and helped her pick up her stuff and been with her just so she wasn’t alone? I feel I should have. But I had to get to work.”

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: should I have helped this stranger?" »

Anonoymous says:

“A few night’s ago I ran over my neighbour’s cat.  When I walked over I recognised it straight away. Mostly by the bell around it’s neck that used to ring constantly. My heart sank because my neighbour is an elderly woman who lives on her own and I knew the cat meant the world to her. Obviously it was up to me to tell her it was dead but when she opened the door and I told her, she was really upset, crying and shaking. I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was me, so I blamed it on the local hoon instead. Was I wrong? ”

Continue reading "Friday’s dilemma: dead cat, elderly neighbour" »

Punch deputy editor Ant Sharwood says:

So I’m at a Golf Club in Canberra one evening between Christmas and New Year’s. And these really pissed guys stumble out of the bar to the outdoor deck where I’m enjoying a cold one with a friend. One sees his golf clubs knocked over. “Did youse do this?” he says, with venomous intent. We didn’t, of course, but my mate and I say nothing. Clearly these guys are way, way too tanked to listen to reason. Best to say nothing.

So anyway, the two drunk morons then pick up their clubs, head to their utes and drive off into the sunset. Personally, I hope they both drove into trees.

Point is, should I have done something? Nobody likes a dobber, especially if it’s a golfing bloke ratting on another golfing bloke, but should I have called the cops? Or expressed my concern to the barman, even though he seemed to know the fellas in question?

And should I, perhaps, have named and shamed the golf club in question in this piece? You tell me. Because clearly, the menssage of no drink-driving has not gotten through to the idiots in society - especially the ones with the big fast cars most likely to kill or maim someone innocent.

And seriously, these guys would’ve blown 0.2 if stopped. They were way, way, way over the limit.

Can you help Ant? Add your advice below.

Anonymous says:

On a recent night out I lent money to a friend who said they had run short. It’s actually been a few weeks since that night and with Christmas coming up, I’m actually in need of the cash.  The other thing is, they’ve asked me so many times before and I know I’ll never get it back. But I’m stumped about asking for it without sounding like a jerk. What do I say so I get it back and still keep my friend?

Can you help this reader? Add your suggestions below.

Annonymous says:

“I was late to an appointment. ALL the disabled parks were empty and I mean ALL of them. Clearly indicating they were in our spots. Does that mean I can use theirs?”

What would you do in this scenario? Add your suggestions below.

Anonymous says:

It’s been a great 24 years, but it’s time for a change…

This could be the start of a note to my hairdresser - if only I had the courage to do it. How do I leave someone who’s seen me through family deaths, relationship break-ups and a multitude of other milestones?

There is no particular reason for my decision, which makes it that much harder. “I’m moving interstate”. “My cousin has just opened a salon and I want to support her”.  “It’s not you - it’s me”. A veritable multiple choice of excuses.

Meanwhile, my hair is getting awfully long and unruly during the decision process.

Can you help this reader? Add your suggestions below.

Anonymous says:

I found out my friend’s husband has been getting nude lap dances when he stays out until 4am. He’s put them on the company credit card and the company found out.

Luckily for him it’s a family company and all they’ve asked is he pays it back. But he has two kids and a mortgage and I’m sure my friend doesn’t know about this at all.

Should I tell my friend? Or do I just clean the mess up when she finds out?

What would you do in this scenario? Add your advice below:

Anonymous says;

“A close friend has been working on her new year’s resolutions to quit smoking (again) and hit the gym.

I feel so bad to say, but I know she can’t do it – as she is very good at failing.

As high spirited as she is, I know she is setting herself up to fail.  I’ve told her to be realistic and set achievable goals. Is it time to tell her to wake up to herself?”

Continue reading "Friday dilemma: the price of friendship" »