Complaint Department

When we went to Russia in 1994 we road the trolleys. We quickly learned that if it was full and a woman got on the trolley the man sitting closest to her would get up and give her his seat. It was the Russian custom.

Some years later I went into Chicago. I road the South Shore railroad. The car that we were riding in was full. There was a couple standing in the middle of the car holding on to a pole. At the next stop some matronly ladies got on the car. Being trained in Russia as to how to handle this situation, I crawled out from my window seat and asked one of them if she would like to have my seat. She quickly said, “Yes.” The man I was sitting next to, looked up from his newspaper at me, then at the woman and then back at me. He stood up and asked the other woman if she wanted his seat. She took it.

We walked down to the middle of the car and grabbed onto one of the poles that was there. I casually said to the couple standing there, “I guess they should have added another car to the train today.”

This couple immediately spoke in a very angry voice about how inconsiderate the train company was and how they should have gotten their act together. It was obvious that this couple was very upset about having to stand in the middle of the car.

The conductor came into the car just then and told us all, “There are plenty of seats two cars up if you want to walk there.” So I proceeded to turn and walk up the train to that car. The man who I had been sitting with followed me. Yet the complaining couple just stood there, angry. I guess they just wanting to have something to complain about rather then finding a solution to their problem.

When the man and I got to the car with the seats in it, I sat on one side and him on the other. I said, “Well that was easy enough.” He just nodded and smiled.

Am I a whiner or am I one who goes with the flow and lives out of the attitude of the Jesus I claim to believe in?