Introduction:

Few of us are ever faced with making the sort of life or death decisions we routinely hear about in the news. And yet there are decisions we face everyday that—whether we realize it or not—have very real moral implications.

Part trivia game and part reality show, BustedHalo’s Moral Dilemmas feature is intended not only to raise moral issues for our readers but also to ask you to participate in resolving them. After reading the story below about Brianna, Amy and Anna please tell us what the “right thing to do” is via the quiz at the bottom. Next week we’ll offer a “wrinkle” to the dilemma and ask your opinion once again. Finally, we will have our own moral theologian weigh in with some analysis of the dilemma and your responses.

Click here to read The Wrinkle to our Dilemma.

Click here to read our expert’s analysis.

Homeward Bound

When Brianna arrived back at her apartment on a Monday afternoon after a long weekend visiting her boyfriend in Seattle, she was surprised to discover that her door was unlocked. She walked inside tentatively and called out ‘Hello.’ A moment later she heard the toilet flush and was relieved when Anna, her cleaning woman emerged. “Hola!” Anna replied smiling and then continued to try to explain something to Brianna in Spanish.

“No, no Anna!” Brianna replied, and then, trying to summon as much high school Spanish as she could muster, she squealed “Mira! Look! Mira! Mira!” beaming while holding up her left hand to reveal a diamond engagement ring.

Anna, rushed over to hug her. Though she had only known Anna for a little over a year, Brianna’s affection for her was real; it was almost as if she were a member of her family. Anna was in her late 60s, just a few years older than Brianna’s own mother—whom she often clashed with—and she had a maternal air that Brianna loved. She’d found Anna through a number of other residents in the building who had been using her for years. She came highly recommended, many of her neighbors had told her that Anna was a hard worker who really needed the income because she had a daughter and a grandchild still living with her as well as a grown son who had just been released from prison.

A lifetime of cleaning, however had taken its toll on Anna’s aging joints, and Brianna sometimes told Anna to take a break whenever she noticed how painful it was to complete certain chores. She even suggested that Anna see a doctor about the pain but Anna would just smile at the suggestion and go about her business.

Mock Toast

A few nights later Brianna invited two of her oldest friends, Tara and Amy over to help her celebrate the good news. She and Tara, who had recently gotten married, had been in regular contact but Amy had just gotten back in touch after a couple of years spent battling a serious drug and alcohol addiction.

They’d had a great time catching up with each other, though it was clear that Amy had been through a great deal and was just piecing things back together. Brianna’s joy was tempered by the reality of seeing how much Amy had struggled. Her spirits were lifted though when Amy raised her glass of water and jokingly toasted the both of them “Here’s to the merry wives and the old maid!” They cracked up with laughter.

Plagued

When Brianna got up to go to work the next morning she could feel the symptoms of a migraine headache coming on. By the time she’d showered and gotten dressed her head felt like it was splitting in half. She’d been plagued with migraines for years and was usually able to deal with them, but about six months ago a new doctor prescribed some Vicodin for the rare times when the migraines got out of hand. The doctor was very clear that this was a strong and addictive narcotic and that she had to be very careful when taking it “This prescription should last you for at least 12 months” he told her.

Brianna told him not to worry and that she was not a fan of drugs and was particularly conscious of how powerful and addictive a narcotic like Vicodin could be. So in the course of the past 4 months she had only used 2 of the 36 pills her doctor had prescribed. But when she opened the medicine cabinet that morning, she noticed that the Vicodin bottle was on a different shelf than normal and hidden behind a bottle of cough syrup. She opened it and found there were no pills left.

Who?

Brianna felt a chill down her spine and panicked for a moment. Who could’ve taken all of those pills? Her mind immediately gravitated to Amy who’d had a history of issues with drugs. She felt terrible for thinking that way especially after all Amy had been through over the past few years. Brianna could only imagine how hurtful and embarrassing it would be if she had to confront Amy. She was in a fragile enough state already and this accusation could really throw Amy off; and what if, by chance, she was wrong and Amy had nothing to do with it? She could easily ruin their newly rekindled bond.

Brianna then felt a pit in her stomach begin to grow when she began to think that it could have been Anna instead. She came by once a week to clean usually while Brianna was still at work. But why would Anna do that to her? It made no sense.

Just then her head began to hurt uncontrollably and she realized she needed the medicine badly. But how could she explain all this to her new doctor who had warned her about the medicine? Would he believe her?

Time for you to decide. What should Brianna do now? Take the quiz