An Unlikely Ethical Dilema

Alright guys, my world is generally pretty black and white. I live in a small, safe community and travel the same reliable routine paths daily. There isn't much intrigue or morally perplexing issues that I confront with any regularity to keep the ethics lobe of my brain as sharply tuned as it needs to be. Which is why when I ran into a particularly messy situation today, I was at a loss for how to proceed.

My toddler Pixie and I were swimming in our apartment complex pool. It was a beautiful day and my various neighbors were starting to arrive home from work. A charming girl who had recently moved in came out to the pool to take a dip in the late afternoon heat. I was glad to have a chance to get to know her a little better and we chatted pleasantly for 10 minutes or so. Pixie, as usual, toddled around the edges of the pool playing with dead bugs, throwing rocks and eating the neighbors marigolds. I kept a casual eye on her but was focused mainly on establishing a relationship with my friendly new neighbor. I didn't even blink when I heard Pixie making telltale noises in her swim diaper as I was too consumed in chatting about local schools and smiling prettily.

Eventually Pixie got bored of the lush landscape of the concrete atrium and came over to get back in the pool. I held her under the arms and jumped her up and down in the water just how she likes it as she happily laughed. It wasn't until something brushed my arm that I noticed what had happened. Pixie swim diaper was "loaded" as it is delicately coined, and there was a widening circle of evidence spreading out on the water with each plunge I executed. My perky neighbor didn't seem to notice and continued swimming around in the deep end.

And here lies the dilemma. Do you scream, tell your new friend that you are trying to make a good impression on that she's backstroking in hostile waters or do you play it cool in attempt to avoid an abrupt end to budding friendship in hopes that she won't notice? You would think the answer is obvious, but as I tried to explain earlier, I'm out of practice with the whole ethics thing and did what most self preservationists do. I ran.

The second I saw what was happening I quickly muttered "Uh, I've just got to run upstairs for a second, " scooped up Pixie under the arms and flew up the stairs. I did a diaper change in record time and ran back outside in hopes of whitewashing the whole incident. As I was jogging down the stairs to the pool, my new neighbor dashed past me towards her apartment with a grim expression. Had I been discovered? "We'll see you around!" I chirped to which I received a plasticy smile and grunt as she brushed by.

So much for first impressions.