Blog#4: Giving in

Obviously, I read another short story from the same David Sedaris book for this post. This story, titled "Solution to Saturday's Puzzle" (pages 124-134), is about Sedaris' unfortunate situation on an airplane. When he sneezed, his cough drop fell out of his mouth and landed on the lap of the woman sitting next to him. Awkward, right? But it gets worse. He had earlier had a fight with this woman. The woman next to him asked him to change seats so that she and her husband could sit next to each other. While this seems like a perfectly reasonable request, Sedaris declined. Why? Because the woman's husband was sitting in what Sedaris dubbed 'The Bulkhead", also known as the front row. Sedaris assured her that had it been her child wanting to change seats, he would have obliged. But not for a grown man. However, this explanation was not good enough. The woman was really mad. So that brings us back to this awkward situation. There isn't much of an ending to this story, only that the woman called him a name.
Yet this story brings to mind a common issue. Do you give in or stand your ground? There are the people who can't say no. Those who would switch seats on an airplane with someone who had the bad luck of ending up next to the man who reeked of alcohol and spent the 8-hour flight sobbing uncontrollably. And then there are the David Sedarises of the world, those who won't change seats with the man in the front row who simply wants to sit next to his wife, for a 45 minute flight. These people are debatably bring unreasonable. But if you paid for or requested the seat you are in, why would you want to change? This is where a balance must come. Be reasonable, think about yourself and others when making decisions, and don't be afraid to say no. And keep in mind, if you don't give the other person what they want,you will accidentally drop a cough drop onto their lap and be in an unfortunate predicament. That's karma.