The Right Thing: Should an act from the past be erased?
Sometimes – well, often – a reader's question ends up going in a direction I hadn't anticipated. "My heart is heavy," a reader from Virginia I'm calling "Frank" wrote to...
All Stories
The Right Thing: Shut up and listen
"Silence is the weapon," writes Robert A. Caro in his 2019 book, "Working: Researching, Interviewing, Writing." "Silence and the people's need to fill it." Caro is writing about an interviewing...
If a coworker shirks responsibility, do I report it?
If a co-worker isn't doing his or her job, whose responsibility is it to set matters straight? A reader from Northern California whom we're calling Wendy wrote recently about a...
Can I un-tell a lie on my résumé?
Often, it's not the original lie we tell that presents the most problems for us, but rather the multiple lies we tell to support the first one. The work it...
If someone shows us who they are, believe them, don’t vote for them
Embellished military career. Allegedly dodged the draft. Misplaced ballot box. Falsified voter names. Abused Congressional staffers. Commitment to doing as little policy work as possible out of fear of alienating...
Fighting fake news can start with 3 simple words: ‘I don’t know’
"I don't know." Getting acquainted with those three words seems more critical than ever, even though we are bombarded daily with globs of information, most of which is fairly accessible....
Did the shop owner risk a customer’s safety?
After six months, J.K., a reader in Massachusetts, finally broke down and scheduled a haircut at the salon where he had been getting his hair cut for at least the...
Internet service providers should up their customer support game
I am among the number of fortunate adults who did not lose his job during the pandemic because of my ability to work from home. I am also fortunate to...
Who is responsible if a cashier deliberately undercharges?
After the breakout of COVID-19, a reader we're calling Olive worked from home for three months and limited any trips to stores to an every-other-week visit to her local supermarket....
Should we take free stuff intended for those who need it?
In early May, dairy farmers in Boston were prepared to give away about 8,600 gallons of milk to families who were in need. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, dairy farmers...