live-action koans

I love it when life presents me with practical, live-action type koans. or maybe not koans, but at the very least double-binds. for example, what do you do when you're in the elevator and the old geezer standing next to you drops his keys? you can tell from the rickety way he walked when came aboard that he is going to have trouble bending or crouching to pick them up. but he also looks like a stubbornly self-reliant, bad-tempered old bird who is going to resent you like hell if you assume he's too infirm to pick up his own damned keys.

this happened to me yesterday and all I could do was put myself in his position. when I'm a crochety old geezer, am I going to want some smug, snotty young punk picking up my keys for me? probably not. at least, not unless I ask him to. and that's what finally decided me. he didn't seem offended by my lack of assistance, so I guess it worked out more or less well.