CallaFirestormBW
Posts: 3651
Joined: 6/29/2008 Status: offline
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If I am understanding the situation correctly, Kurt, your servant has been under discipline for disobedience related to her television activities in the past (watching a show that she was forbidden to watch?). Now, she has asked for special dispensation to watch the inauguration. It seems to me that the purpose of your discipline has been served. Clearly, she has learned that access to the television is only obtained by your permission, which was the point of disciplining her, yes? This is a momentous occasion, yes. That being said, I -do- understand the position that, if a special dispensation from an existing discipline is being requested, then there must be some recompense. Personally, that isn't my style (I figure that if the request is made, and I choose to allow it, that shows sufficiently my authority in the situation, and I feel no further need to rub that authority in just to show that I can), however, if I -were- to choose to place a 'cost' on such permission, I would require something BEFORE the event... If you wish to see the show on television, you must... (insert special chore or duty here). I would not make it so impossible that she is doomed to not be able to complete the task, but, at the same time, I would make it challenging enough that she would have to work at it (Perhaps preparing a special, complex meal suited to the gravity of the occasion, as well as completing her regular daily tasks). That way, if she completes the special requirements, she gets to watch, and can concentrate completely on the event... if not, then she knows that it is because she did not apply herself sufficiently, and apparently did not want to watch enough to complete the special tasks. I would also find a situation petty and shallow, were there nothing to it than a servant's existence being solely for my entertainment, with no consideration any other intrinsic value in situations than that... but that is another topic for another day.
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*** Said to me recently: "Look, I know you're the "voice of reason"... but dammit, I LIKE being unreasonable!!!!" "Your mind is more interested in the challenge of becoming than the challenge of doing." Jon Benson, Bodybuilder/Trainer
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