Rescue me

Sometimes, the people we love go out with people we can't stand or dislike for various reasons. As friends or family members, we'd hate to see the person we love get in a bad situation with this other seemingly odious person. Now we have two choices: say nothing and smile and nod when our friend talks about his or her partner or stage an intervention and get our friend to see the light, so to speak.

This type of situation calls into question the duties of a friend. Is it our job to unconditionally support our friends, even if they make what we know to be poor decisions? Or is it our job to try to rescue our friends from their bad choices?

On one hand, if you knew someone was abusing your friend, you would do everything in your power to try to help. But when the situation does not involve any immediate health or safety risks -- the man or woman in question is just a jerk or stupid or insensitive -- is there still any compulsion to save people from their own bad dating decisions? Love is blind, and the person in the bad situation just might not want to be rescued. A lot can be said about people learning from their own mistakes.

I've been in the rescuer and rescue-ee positions. Of course, as the rescue-ee, I disregarded advice and despised it at the time, but in my own time I came to see my friends were right.

What would you do in such a situation? Do you try to rescue your friends from bad dating situations or do you let them run their course? Have you ever had to be rescued? Did you appreciate your friends for speaking up or did you resent them?