The other day I faced an incredibly tough decision. I was walking down the street with a girlfriend of mine, Dana, and to my repulsion, I noticed an incredibly large booger in her nose. Now, I know this isn't that gross. After all, it is October and allergy season -- these sorts of things can't really be helped. I still wasn't sure what my response should be. If it had been my best friend, I would have pulled her to the side and let her know, but sharing that sort of information with my best friend is perfectly legitimate. After all, we tell each other the embarrassing stories of our life all the time, so telling her to remove one little booger wouldn't be out of line.

Dana, on the other hand, I hardly knew. We share a class together and occasionally I'll see her at a party I'm attending. While I'm sure she would have been grateful if I had told her about the large mass of mucus hanging from her left nostril, I just couldn't bring myself to utter the words.

Instead, I merely tried to avert my gaping eyes from her nose and carry on with my side of the conversation.

Flash forward to three days later: I see Dana along the road. We make casual conversation, and she tells me about how three days ago, right after walking with me, she had finally gained enough courage to talk to Bob, the infamously gorgeous man about whom Dana talks nonstop. After finally getting the guts she desperately needed to ask him out, he rejected her offer to take him out to dinner. Now, you'll have to trust me when I tell you that Dana is a pretty good-looking girl with a good personality, and on any booger-less day, I'm sure Bob would have taken up her offer in an instant. After her rejection, she checked the mirror, spotted the booger and resolved never to look at Bob again.

I feel immense guilt. It's the worst feeling, knowing I might have altered Bob's first impression of Dana with the simple words, "Gross, Dana, there's a huge booger in your nose."

I realize this is a small insignificant event with all the real problems of the world, but on a larger scale this event has made me rethink about my own openness when it comes to dealing with my friends. This incident has made me wonder if it had not been a booger in Dana's nose, but instead her boyfriend cheating on her, would I have also hesitated to tell her what was really going on while she innocently walked beside me? More than likely, I would have kept my mouth shut. Why? Because I have always been taught that it's far better to mind my own business than to get in the middle of other people's problems.

Let's be honest. We've all been in a situation where we could have told one of our acquaintances there was a booger in their nose. Sometimes we're even in a spot where we have to tell someone something so bad that it can't be solved with one quick wipe of a tissue. It's hard to define when we should tell our friendly contacts something that they may not want to hear.

In my own life, I've resolved to become more open with the people I only consider "mere contacts." By staying guarded in relationships, both parties aren't really gaining anything except a partner for walking to class.

Opening ourselves up to more new people allows us to build relationships that may eventually become more important to us than the ones we are in right now. In your own escapades developing better relationships, know that even with your best friends, there is a line you cannot cross and still keep the friendship.

It's up to you to decide where that line is, but by slowly being more truthful, you'll be able to extend those boundaries and develop the trust one must have to get closer to people.