Really?

I can’t say I ever imagined myself suing a person. It always seemed to me like a despicable thing to do to a fellow human being. Not to mention, I think people are too quick to sue over the littlest things in modern society, whether it be a means of shrugging off responsibility for oneself or trying to take advantage of someone else out of financial desperation or greed.

But now I find myself in a situation where I may have to choose between swallowing a large expense resulting from someone else’s negligence or actually suing that someone. My sincere hope is that this person will approach the situation like an adult and take responsibility for their actions. My doubt is that it will be that easy.

The advice of my family is to drop it. “Keep your friends,” they say. Or, “it’s not worth the trouble it will cause you.” But what if this person isn’t my friend anyway? Maybe if we were friends it would be easier. Perhaps a friend would be more willing to be accountable rather than fuck over someone they are close to. I know if I were responsible for causing someone a huge expense I would find a means of paying them back without hesitation, whether they were my friend or not. Maybe it’s not worth the trouble it will cause me. The stress it has brought thus far has led to a lot of random outbursts and restless sleeps. But do I really want to be someone who can be pushed around that easily? The advice of my mechanic, my friends, even my partner, is to not back down, to not let someone get away with what they have done to me, regardless of what their intentions were.

How’s this for a question of ethics?