Adventures in observance

First, our visiting son complained that I wouldn't take him to the kosher deli of his choice because I'd heard that it wasn't kosher. Okay, so I did an Internet search afterward, and it turns out that the restaurant in question does have rabbinic supervision. Presumably, some people either don't trust the supervision and/or have other reasons for not eating there.

Then, our son complained when I wouldn't touch or move on Shabbat/Sabbath certain objects that one is not allowed to touch or move on Shabbat (objects traditionally described as "muksteh"). He found the notion of not being allowed to touch a turned-off laptop ridiculous. And, of course, as a Physics grad student, he had no kind words for the prohibition against turning electricity on and off on Shabbat, insisting that electricity is not a form of fire.

On Sunday, the restaurant problem popped up again in a different guise--my sister, who has multiple chemical sensitivities and can get sick from just about anything, put a tissue over her mouth and said that the odors (which none of the rest of us could smell) coming from the kitchen of the kosher restaurant were bothering her. She wanted to leave for a treif (non-kosher) restaurant with which she was well enough acquainted that she knew she'd feel physically comfortable there. I refused. Our son was upset that I was putting kashrut above my sister's health. Frankly, I'm not sure which one of us was right.

Having non-observant (and/or not-so-healthy) family and friends definitely complicates observance, as I mentioned previously.