I'm curious -- it seems that some people think that because Avon solved one problem for Meegat he was under some moral obligation to discover if she had any other problems and offer to fix them, too.
Is this related to that supposed Chinese tradition that if you save someone's life, you are responsible for them from then on?
Because it seems backwards to me.
For example, I'm short. In grocery stores if the top shelf of items isn't full to the front edge I can't reach things stored there. When that happens I ask a taller nearby person to please get a box of whatever down for me. The person does so, I say thank you, and that's the end of it. I certainly don't expect this kind stranger to start asking me, Got any other problems? Is there anything else I can do for you? How's your house? Do you need to me move you to another state? or whatever. Why in the world should s/he? I asked for a specific type of help, s/he gave it to me. That puts me in his/her debt, not the other way round. (This type of debt being the sort you repay by helping someone else in some other situation, of course.)
An way, isn't that exactly the situation in this episode?
Meegat asked for Avon's help to do a specific thing. He did it as a favor to her. Therefore *she* was in debt to him. Why aren't we discussing what Meegat may or may not or should or should not have offered to do for Avon to repay him instead of reviling Avon for not volunteering to transport her and her tribe to another planet?
Susan Beth (susanbeth33@mindspring.com)