Welcome to yet another edition of What's YOUR Deal?!? This marks a return to the regular format of what you have all come to expect from me: a rant, in total dismay, about the actions of the people around me. Maybe I just don't understand human behavior or maybe I'm the one with a personality disorder, but some things just don't make any sense to me. This past weekend was spent travelling and I seem to find the most fodder for my rants whenever I travel. I think it's mainly because everyone is out of their element, there is no "homecourt-advantage" for anyone. But that doesn't seem to stop people from thinking that the world still revolves around them. And it is to those people that I want to give them a hearty, "What's YOUR Deal?!?"
The fight for equality is one that we all still face. One way or another, we are all minorities in some aspect of our lives. Whether it's something physical or something within our belief system or something completely intangible, we all have something that makes us unique in the grand scheme of things. This is normal. However, the issue always seem to originate when groups of people get together and turn their minority beliefs into something big and try to impose their will upon others, generally another minority group. Before you all think I'm on another liberal rant about social justice, bear with me... you just might learn something about yourself.
I am actually writing this rant thousands of feet in the air while on Southwest Airlines Flight 2217, non-stop from Chicago Midway Airport to Los Angeles International Airport. I am not a fan of flying, not because of a physical issue or a fear of flying, but because I am forced to be in a small cramped space with a cross-section of society. My issues with the airline industry notwithstanding, I generally don't like people and quite honestly, think most people are retards. This retardation is exacerbated by being trapped thousands of feet in the air in a cramped space with a cross-section of society. And I mean absolutely no disrespect to those with actual developmental disabilities, because those people cannot do anything about their condition, however, retards are the ones that can, but choose not to.
I actually truly enjoy flying Southwest Airlines. Their service is impeccable and they don't nickel and dime you on things that should be included with the price of your airfare. They do offer early boarding for a small fee, which I enjoy capitalizing on, because then I can board early and pick my seat. I generally travel with my cat, Milo, drink entirely too much water to not have to use the bathroom in the middle of a Chicago to LA flight, and I have an arthritic right knee. I prefer sitting in an aisle seat because I can get Milo out from under the seat easily when we land, I don't shove my butt in people's faces when I need to get up and go to the bathroom, and I can stretch out my bad knee. I have those simple demands and I pay the appropriate fees to ensure that those ammenities are available to me. But does that make me any better than any of the other passengers around me? I don't really think so. But yet, other people think they are better...
I don't understand the elitism that is apparent in today's society. When I boarded Flight 2217, I was the 20th person to get on the flight, I picked my seat, near the front (HUZZAH!), aisle seat, and put Milo under the seat in front of me. As a courtesy, I warn people that want to sit near me or next to me that I have a cat, and they shouldn't sit near me if they are allergic. Nowhere in my boarding agreement does it say that I have to do that. I do it out of courtesy to the comfort of the people around me. Usually people will go, "Okay," and move elsewhere to sit if I got there first... except this time. Several minutes after telling one potential row-mate that I have a cat, this lady across the aisle from me asked, "Did I hear you say you have a cat?" Why, yes I do, I told her as I pointed at Milo. "Oh, I'm allergic, can you move?" Excuse me? Then the lady in front of me said, "Oh, I'm allergic too!" and then proceeded to repeatedly press the Flight Attendant button. I warned the people around me before I sat down, this seat was as much my right as their's were to them. It wasn't my fault that she didn't understand my initial warning that I had a cat with me.
Knowing full well that an altercation with Little Miss Elitist Jerk and Grandma Senility would just prolong my travel experience as well as guarantee me 15 seconds of fame on the news... I did not feel like dealing with it. So I starting gathering my stuff to move a few rows back to an aisle seat that was still open. I couldn't get up yet, because the aisle was still full of people trying to find seats, but Grandma Senility was still pressing that Flight Attendant call button frantically while waving her hands to get the Flight Attendant's attention. By the time he got there, she had apparently gotten livid, along with Little Miss Elitist Jerk, who initially suggested that I move rather than her. Grandma Senility was practically foaming at the dentures yelling, "She has a cat! I'm allergic to cats! I have told her repeatedly to move!" while Little Miss Elitist Jerk was chirping right along saying something about how the air will blow Milo fur at her. Apparently due to her increased age, Grandma Senility thinks repeatedly meant once. The poor flight attendant looked at me and I told him, "Look, I'm going to just move back a couple rows back, but I was just waiting until the aisle cleared."
No harm, no foul. But I don't believe that it's my fault that they're allergic to cats and were sitting near me despite my warnings that I have a cat with me. But yet, I was the better person, and moved from a seat that was rightfully mine. I paid for Milo to be on board, I paid for the right to be among to first to board, and I paid for a seat on this aircraft, just like they did. But, for some reason, they saw fit that they somehow had more of a right to stay there and make me move. Although, karma took care of me, the flight attendant gave me a free drink voucher and the person who subsequently took my old seat had a small screaming baby. Victory is still mine. But I digress.
The question to be asked here, and it is one that truly confounds me is how people can immediately assume that they are right and that their opinions hold more weight than anyone else's. I find myself in the same boat. Most of my rants are my opinions and they start steamrolling as more people read and agree with me. Does that implicitly imply that those that disagree with me are immediately wrong? No, I don't think so. Does it change my opinion that they are retards? The answer is no to that as well. Can the two thought processes co-exist? I would like to think so.
The issue lies with people assuming their position is infallibly correct, with no possible alternative and an inability to compromise. Life is not zero-sum, meaning one thought does not immediately make another impossible. Why are people so intent on holding their ground, even when evidence to the contrary exists? Or perhaps evidence of the utter inanity of their position exists? This is apparent in politics especially. Today's political climate seems to indicate that moderation is a near impossibility. Sometimes I feel bad for the President, who can't seem to be liberal enough and can't seem to appease the conservatives enough. Whatever happened to objectivity?
So, in the societal microcosm that Flight 2217 was, when I was faced with a choice of my right to be in that seat, near those people, or to be the better person, I chose to be objective. My aims were to get an aisle seat, near the front. Did it HAVE to be THAT aisle seat? No. But yet I find myself thinking, that while taking the enlightened path, I have compromised myself somehow. There's a little voice inside of me that did not want those two morons to "win" even though I was rewarded karmatically with a free beverage voucher and they were stuck with a screaming baby.
The question is now posed to you, my readers, what was the right thing to do? Fight for my right to be in that seat? Or turn the other cheek, in a manner of speaking? Or is there more to the scenario than just a simple difference in opinion? What does our opinion on this matter say about us as a society? What does this say about our belief systems and the very religions we believe in? I find myself pondering those great thoughts as I sit in this seat, a couple aisles behind where I initially wanted to be. Because one can make the same arguments for and against religions. Does the existance of one detract from the existance of another? Are Christians allergic to Muslims? Will Catholics have their eyes water and sinuses clog in the presence of a Jewish person? I don't understand why an atheist can't co-exist with someone that believes in a deity. What does our beliefs have to do with another's if there is no actual effect on their life? Why is it so important for us to impose our will upon others? What is OUR deal?!?
