Terry also has a 50-foot sailboat on which my wife and I frequently are guests - not just for the day, but often for the weekend and occasionally for a week-long cruise.
Here's the problem: We make a decent living, but there is no way we can reciprocate this kind of hospitality. What should we do?
Answer: Stop thinking you can't reciprocate. You certainly can. Your obligation is not to treat your friend to something of equal value, but to treat him to something he'll enjoy.
Maybe that's a night at the opera, a day at a ball game or an afternoon at a spa. Whatever you know Terry would most enjoy. The point here is not that you need to match Terry's hospitality dollar for dollar. Rather, it's that the disparity in your resources doesn't free you from your obligation to entertain Terry as thoughtfully as he's been entertaining you.
Test your ethics:
2. Who are more ethical? a) rich people b) poor people c) there's no difference between them.
Last updated February 14 2008: 1:18 PM ET
