Let's say I brought a cake home one day and placed it in front of Person A (let's call her 'Belle'), and Person B (I'll name her 'Elle'). To the two of them, I said two words: "eat it," and then left.
Belle and Elle go about doing their own thing and forget about the cake. A couple days later, Belle finds it sitting right where I'd put it down that first day, untouched, uneaten. She takes a piece, and another, and another, until she's eaten almost all the cake. She leaves a tiny piece for Elle.
Elle comes across the piece of cake a couple hours later, and is immediately furious at Belle for having eaten most of it. She calls Belle selfish for having eaten most of the cake and (most importantly) for not thinking of her (Elle) wanting to eat most of the cake too (and thus for not splitting it 50/50).
So who's the selfish one?
Belle who ate most of the cake (except a tiny sliver) and didn't think of Elle's desires?
Or Elle, who expected Belle to act in a certain way to satisfy her (Elle's) own selfish desire to eat most of the cake as well?
My answer? Both. How about yours?
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3 comments:
Funny, I came up with both a grape-burst of a moment before I read your answer.
In sync with yours!
I think Belle is the selfish one because she ate the cake without thinking of Elle. It's not Elle b/c you put the cake in front of both Belle and Elle and didn't call anyone when you said "eat it", that means it belongs to both of them and Elle in this case is actually right for expecting her share as she deserved just as much as Belle as it was in front of both.
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