Originally Posted by
invisible
So where you draw a line then? There is one Russian proverb/expression - "Бьет - значит любит", even more - "бей бабу молотом, будет баба золотом" - I assume that you know Russian enough to understand. For the rest - these are two Russian proverbs. First - "He beats you - he loves you". Second - "hit woman with a hammer, she will turn into gold" - literal translation.
These (and other) proverbs are frequently used in speech and in practice as well. So... do you do the same 'when in Rome"?
Kind of a ridiculous over-extension of my point, as you surely know. Fitting into the cultural norm, in the OP’s case, is doing something that helps someone, and actually might make him feel good too. That’s hardly the same thing as actively hurting someone.