The Call of Duty

If a cop sees a crime taking place, it is his obligation to intervene. If a doctor is playing golf and notices someone struck down by lightning, it is her duty to get involved. Since members of law enforcement and the medical community are expected to use their expertise to diffuse situations, does the same rule apply to the Style Therapist?

I have a professor who habitually wears lipstick on her teeth. Not a subtle, bubblegum pink shade. I'm referring to the heavy duty, Gothic dark maroon kind. We tell friends when they have an exposed booger. If we see a person with TP on their shoes, we alert them, too. And don't forget the proverbial spinach stuck in the teeth during a blind date. Who eats spinach on a date anyway?

But in the teacher/student relationship it may not be the best road to take. It's not even the lipstick on her teeth that concerns me the most. It's the fact that each week the smeared color gets progressively more noticeable; to the point where her entire top row is that Satan's red color. My concern is that I think she's doing it intentionally as if it were a part of her personality: the zany lady with the messy mouth. We all know at least one relative of Mme. Messy Mouth. Whether it be the young bohemian with the ratty hair that hasn't been cut in months and washed in weeks or the young man who insists on smelly skinny jeans with holes and stains to show how above appearances he is. He's a true thinker you know.

I suppose that I've answered my own question. After all, there's solicited Style Therapy and then there's meddling. No one loves a meddling mother-in-law, but that's to be expected. A meddling Style Therapist has the capacity to really overstep bounds. While I've made my decision to butt out, I'd like to hear your feedback.