This past Sunday I made a possibly crazy decision. A friend of mine was selling his piano, and I thought to myself, "I've always wanted to learn, I'd like to buy a piano at some point in my life, and this is a pretty good deal...I'll buy it!" I woke up Monday morning feeling a slight sense of "What did I do?!" but recovered quickly.It was later that day that I started thinking about logistics. That piano wasn't going to move itself, which meant that I was going to have to approach my friends, people who I think generally trust me, to help me move it. If you think about terrible favors to ask, I think that asking for help moving a piano would be at or near the top of the list.
I spent some time thinking about other favors that would be terrible to ask. Favors that are above and beyond the call of duty. (Don't worry, I won't ask any of you to do any of these. This week.) Here are some that I came up with:
-"Could you please give me one of your kidneys?"
-"Our house runs on bicycle power. Could you take a 6-hour shift?"
-"My spouse and I are going abroad for 6 months. Could you watch our 2 year-old octuplets while we're gone? Oh, and our 15 puppies?"
-"I dropped my wedding ring into that pool of hungry piranhas. Get it for me, please?"
And, of course, "Could you help me move a piano?" I've offered food bribes to my manly helpers, but somehow it doesn't feel sufficient. I suppose I'd better prepare myself to give up a kidney. It's only fair.
Have you ever asked someone/been asked to do a terrible favor? Please share. Maybe you'll make me feel better.
5 comments:
I felt really bad pawning my dog off on my friends while I was out of the country for most of May. I tried to be really honest about what a difficult walker he is, but he's so sweet indoors that I still felt like I was deceiving my poor unsuspecting dog walkers.
Once, a coworker went way out of her way to help me when I locked myself out of my car. I felt so bad that she had to do that and kept trying to tell her how grateful I was, and finally she said, "Honey, you don't need to thank me. Just do the same for someone else sometime." That's really stuck with me. I have a hard time asking favors, but I'm willing and happy to help my friends and so I try to remember that they feel the same about me. (I hope.)
Hey, you said you didn't mind watching my twins and puppies!!! I mean, it was ONly six months. Selfish much?
By the way, I'll take that kidney as soon as it's available.
I hate asking people to take us to the airport, which is why I've never done it. Instead, we spend 1 1/2 hours riding a bus and three different subway cars, while dragging all of our luggage, OR $50 for a taxi, to get to our airport that's only 4 miles from out house. Stupid Boston.
Asking people to help you move is a tough one, too. I love that Seinfeld episode. When is a friend a good enough friend to ask them to help you move?
Amy, those are some tricky favors! Hearing about them did make me feel better, thanks!
E - no kidney until you take the kids back.
Mills - I'll give you a ride to the airport!!! I think that's a favor that so many people need, you shouldn't feel guilty! Someday you can return the favor for them. :)
I still feel bad about making people move boxes and boxes of old National Geographics when me moved from our apartment into our house. One of our [former] friends still reminds us about it. But, I mean, we were going to use those pictures for our kids school projects some day, right??
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