Do you give them what they want...or do you give yourself what you deserve?

Why do we so often give people what they expect of us? We don't like it. We resent it...but still, we give people what they expect.

An example:
A student today stopped by to talk about a phone call he had just gotten. The details aren't important here, but the expected outcome is. What could be predicted (as a result of the phone call) is that he would need to FIX THE PROBLEM. Not as in, find a reasonable solution...rather, as in - OH YEAH I'LL FIX THAT YOU CAN COUNT ON IT.

*sigh*

And at what cost to him? I'm here to tell you that it would cost him dearly. His freedom would be compromised, and with that - his future. (no, I'm not exaggerating) Over what?....a ridiculous detail on one day in his life. Over a phone call that could have been avoided...EXCEPT....someone wanted him to FIX something, and they knew that he would.

The sad part of this is (and we have all been here at one point in time, or will be in the future) - I think on some level he didn't really want to have to FIX this. He didn't really want to give these people what they expected. Seems to me he might have actually felt that FIXING this would not be in his best interest.

Maybe what he really wanted was a reasonable resolution in this ridiculous situation. How was that supposed to happen when he was the guy that everyone expects to FIX things?

So here he was, fighting between the part of him that KNOWS HOW TO SOLVE THIS YOU BETTER BELIEVE THAT I DO...and the part of him that would appreciate an apology.

I don't know what he ended up doing.

I just hope he didn't give people what they expected, and instead gave himself what he deserves.