The sun sets on another day…
It was a bitter cold outside but there was an obvious warmth in the air as the sun set in the western sky. The world was bright and the hues of orange and red smiled upon us all and those who watched could likely do nothing but smile back.
Tonight, I got hungry and stopped at a local Jersey Mike’s. There were several people in the store and as usual I began engaging with all of them. Directly in front of me was a small family with three children of likely ages of nine, six, and two. They were trying to decide as a family what they were going to get and if you have never interacted with a 2-year-old, this can be a unique experience.
I started talking to the 2-year-old because she was the only one not terrified of me, and we started talking about her bear, her pacifier, and we danced by jumping up and down like little beans in a basket. I’m sure other customers thought I was crazy, after all there was a 25 to 30 LB little girl bouncing up and down and spinning around and the monumentally massive giant bouncing up and down and turning around 5 feet away from her. It was still good fun. Eventually the family was no longer afraid that I came in there to swallow them all instead of a sandwich, and we all started talking.
At one point I said three was an odd number and that four would be better so you would have even teams. The man looked at me shocked, and the woman’s eyes lit up. She said absolutely, I wanted to have four while the man said I only wanted two.
I then got the story from the man who told me that before they were married in their church marriage counseling this was discussed and he said he wanted two, while she initially said she wanted four. That meant that this was a compromise and they both won. Of course, I laughed and stated to the compromise is not where both people win, it’s where both people give something up. If you think about it, compromise is always about giving something up in favor of something else entirely. The amount of compromise is usually interesting, and it depends on who pushes hardest, but it is still a compromise, and you still have both sides not getting what they initially wanted.
At that point the two-year-old wanted to dance some more and we bounced around and laughed and, for an instant, she stopped being a two-year-old for a minute and started being just a happy child. If you ever have a two-year-old you will understand.
How do you feel about compromise? Do you think it’s a good idea to give up your position? In order for compromise to work the decision has to be important to both sides, do you feel it’s necessary to set a bargaining point if you don’t really care one way or the other? Do you realize that compromise can be both a win and a loss?
So as the sun sets on another day, I probably told the guy 10 times before I left that four would be good and watched him wince and then laugh. It’s good to have people to talk to when you’re waiting for a big sandwich. It’s good to interact with people always. I hope that you find that compromise works for you if it’s necessary and I hope you realize that the world is a magnificent place for us all to work together to a common end, no matter what.
Sleep sweet, love life, and four would be good…