I was with my wife and scarfing down a chicken philly at a mall food court when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.

Looking over Kara's shoulder I saw it.

A cockroach.

It was about an inch long and its little antennas were tapping their way up the sweatshirt of the guy behind her. His back was about a foot from hers.

The roach must have noticed me looking because the little dude paused for a moment and then darted for cover under the hood of the sweatshirt, inches from the guy's neck.

I leaned forward and whispered. "There's a roach on that guy's back."

Kara's mouth dropped open and her reflex was to pull her seat forward a few inches.

"What are you going to do?"

I wasn't sure and a lot went through my head.

I told her, "I don't know. What does the Golden Rule say? I mean, what would I want a stranger to do?"

There were several reasons I was hesitant:

1) I didn't know how the guy would react, nor his spouse.

I thought about just walking up and telling him. But, even though he was a broad-shouldered guy, I could see him throwing his chair back, jumping up and down on his tip toes, and screaming "Get it off me! Get it off me!" in a falsetto voice. I then pictured the roach jumping on their table and the guy's wife slamming her purse down, spraying food everywhere. An unlikely scenario, I admit, but it still went through my head.

2) What if the guy was embarrassed?

It entered my mind that maybe the roach came with the guy - that he lived in less than sanitary conditions, and roaches were common in his home. Maybe the roach had been in the folds of his clothes and travelled across town with him. It would be embarrasing to have a stranger point it out.

Kara would later tell me, "It wasn't a pet, babe" when I told her this concern. "It's not like he wanted to keep it, even if it did come with him."

She was right.

3) He didn't seem to be worried about it.

The roach wasn't, at the time, causing any noticeable damage. Shouldn't I let the situation run its course? Maybe the thing will just crawl away later and never be noticed.

4) Was it really any of my business?

Yeah, this is a lame excuse that usually means, "I don't want to get involved" but it went through my head. I just wanted to finish my sandwich and go shopping. Maybe points one through three were wrapped up in this desire as well.

Ultimately, that's exactly what I did - nothing. I don't know what ever happened to that roach. At some time he must have emerged and truth-be-told, I'm glad I wasn't around.

But did I do the right thing?

I'm pretty sure I didn't. I think had Jesus been there, He would have tactfully approached the guy. "Excuse me, I don't mean to alarm you, but I saw a small bug crawl under the hood of your sweatshirt and thought you'd like to know. Could I lift it up and brush it off for you?"

So my question for you to think about is this:

A lot of times when we notice something negative going on in another's life we keep our mouths shut for a mix of reasons similar to those above. But is this the right way?

Sure, Jesus would say don't judge areas that you have issues with. If I am covered in roaches it wouldn't make sense for me to try and brush them off others. Jesus would say I should deal with my own roach problem first if I want to be effective at pest removal in the lives of others.

But can we all agree that even if the person had a wild reaction, or even if the person became embarrassed, our responsibility is to tactfully and carefully intervene. That it is, actually, our business?

Doesn't the Golden Rule demand we do something in the light of nasty critters crawling around on the backs of others?

I would want to know if a disease-carrying creature was making its home in my clothes. The instantaneous reaction might not be pretty, but in the long run, I'd be thankful if someone helped me see it.