Sunday, June 16, 2013

Tazi's Corner #48 - The Art Of Compromise

Dear Readers,

Have you ever been frustrated with your fellow humans? I know I have! My Mommie is FOREVER forgetting to fill all five of my feeding bowls, to put exactly six ice cubes in my water bowl, and to fluff the pillow by the window so I can sit on it and stare out at the world. The other night when I wanted my customary 9:30 PM treat, she made me wait because she had to use the flushable litter-box! I didn’t get my treat until 9:33! The audacity!

I decided that there was only one solution to this abuse, and I consulted with the great wise cat, Old Deuteronomy. He asked me if I was willing to compromise my standards at all, for the sake of my humans’ busy schedules. I told him NO! He then looked at me and patiently replied, “Just as you refuse to compromise, so they refuse as well”.

Up until now, I have always thought of compromise as a way to get two losers in the same argument. With compromise, nobody wins and everybody walks away unhappy – or so I thought. After my conversation with Old Deuteronomy, I decided to try it. When I noticed that my favorite feeding station was empty, I did not wake Mommie at 2 AM to get up and fill it; I simply ate some cat cereal from a different feeding station, and woke Mommie at 5 AM to get up and fill my favorite bowl. Although I could see she was not happy about the 5 AM wake up, she did fluff my window pillow for me, since she was awake. What a treat! A fluffed pillow is worth two full feeding stations! This compromise stuff could have a good side to it after all…

In the spirit of compromise, I decided that I would do my morning barfs in the middle of the floor instead in some secluded corner where they would not be discovered for a week. This compromise did not work out as well; one of the humans stepped in it and was not happy with me, although in the spirit of compromise they might have looked at where they were walking!

I think with a little practice, I will get the hang of this compromise thing, and possibly even learn to like it! What are your thoughts on compromise? Do you think it solves more problems than it creates or that it creates more problems than it solves? Do you only compromise over the important things or the little things? How do you manage to compromise without compromising your principles? Discuss!



Snuggles,
Tazi

Ask Tazi! is ghostwritten by a human with a Bachelors of Arts in Communications. Tazi-Kat is not really a talking feline.





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