" Conflict of Interest in the Professions "

It turned out that I knew enough to be a decent referee. Still, my memories of refereeing are not happy. I wanted to be fair, but I could not just "bend over backward" to be fair to the others; that would not have been fair to my son or his team. If I could not bend over backward to be fair, what was I to do? How could I look over that field of boys running, kicking, and yelling without seeing my son in the blur of bright uniforms? Did I therefore see fouls a stranger would have overlooked? Did I resolve doubts in a way a stranger would not have? Was I harder on my son than the regular referee would have been, easier, or just the same? To this day, I don't know. What I do know is that I could not call a foul in that game with the same assurance any ordinary referee could have-or as I could have had both teams been strangers to me.