All in a day's Jerk

What the hell is wrong with me? Sometimes I feel like an idiot. Have you ever had a soft spot for a person... and by that I am not talking about the soft spot on the top of a baby's head. By the way, don't ever push on those...

The soft spot I'm talking about is somewhere else... Somewhere in the dead center between "I love you" and "Fuck you." You can look it up on Mapquest. I swear it is right between the two. The thing that no map site can tell you is the point on your journey where you become evil. There's that spot, but it isn't marked clearly. Caring for someone, listening, giving yourself... until there's nothing left. At what point do you become Darth Vader? Jeez!

When is it better to give someone the emotional smack-down? You know... I think our parents used to call it "tough love." I feel like one of the parents on several Law & Order episodes... there's a tom of them with the following scenario:

A family member (usually of high societal status) does everything within their power to make things good for the screw up, the black sheep, in their close knit family. The black sheep is always in trouble with the law, but the family member covers it up because they love the kid, or the spouse or the parent so much. At what point does that protector cease to be a help and become a participant in the destruction. I know that no one deserves to be kicked in the ass for next to nothing... but how many "next to nothings" equals a something. I guess I need to find some kind of conversion chart.

Please don't take that metaphor too literally. I assure you that there's no law being broken. Just my back and my heart really, and I hear those are replaceable.