Two true tales about principles

1. Well, good for you ...

A nighttime U-16 girls' soccer game in Royal Oak, Mich., circa 1996. Thea's team is playing two players short and without any subs; the other team's coach, however, has elected to field a full 10-player team—versus eight—and send in four or five substitutes at a time. We are getting shellacked, of course, and with every goal scored by the opposing side, the opposing side's parents and supporters scream like maniacs and stomp their feet and applaud wildly, just loving the way their girls are kicking our girls' fatigued and outnumbered asses up and down the field. It gets to where I can't take the psychotic demonstrating any longer, and make some audible critical comment about the lack of sportsmanship I'm witnessing, on and off the field. This raises the ire of a woman sitting near me, who turns and snarls, "You'd play it the same way if you were coach!" And I snap back something to the effect that I sure as hell would not, to which she mockingly replies, "Well, good for you—you have principles."

2. That wouldn't be fair ...

Mid 1980s. I'm looking to buy a used car. I find a clean subcompact at a Ford dealership about six miles from home. I take the car for a test drive and detect an intermittent clunking noise that sounds like it's coming from the rear axle. I stop by the house and fish through the glovebox, where I find the previous owner's name and telephone number on one of the documents there. I call the previous owner and tell him I'm thinking of buying this car but am concerned about a noise I'm hearing in the rear end. Could he tell me anything about that? Had he had any problems with the car? He refuses to answer any of my questions, saying it wouldn't be fair to the used car dealer. I guess that man had principles.

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