Pardon Me. Is That Seat Taken?

Pin It Yesterday, I read a good blog post entitled, The Best Time I Didn't Sit Next to Harrison Ford. The premise of the article was that the author, who lives in Malibu, had arrived early to a play to see a friend's son perform, and had saved several seats for her friends. I'm familiar with the mentality in regard to fame in Malibu, because we have the same thing going on here in Nashville in regard to the music industry.

Former YMCA Doorman
Picture from here.

Yes, Vince Gill once smiled into my eyes as he held the door open for me at the YMCA (and I nearly left a puddle in the floor. Oh, my, GOSH! Those EYELASHES!!!). Yes, a long time ago, before her demise, Minnie Pearl was seated at the table next to mine at Dalt's Grill. Yes, that was Clint Black who chatted me up at the old Wild Oats market (which is now a Trader Joe's), while I waited for bulk Wildflower Honey to drizzle into my jar, and he ground almonds into almond butter, and Lisa Hartman Black yelled over her shoulder, "I'll be at the eggs, honey!". These types of things happen in Nashville.  and Nashvillians have an unspoken, unwritten policy of being polite enough to be cool, and mind their own business around celebrities. It's the right thing to do. And apparently, in Malibu, they feel the same.

So, as the story I linked to progresses, the author mentions her deep and abiding adoration of Harrison Ford. And I'm sure many of us can understand her admiration of him. Lo and behold, it turns out that unbeknownst to the author, Harrison Ford's daughter has a role in that same play, and thus, it turns out that the author sees Han Solo enter the theater,  where the author is seated, having saved several seats for her friends. He approaches her, gestures at the seats where she has placed her jacket, and asks if those seats are taken. She hesitates, but replies that they are, thus, remaining loyal to her friends.

"Pardon me. Is that seat taken?"
Picture from here.

(Her friends arrive later, and ask her "What? Are you CRAZY???" They tell her they think she was being ridiculous for not giving up a seat.)

But the story got me thinking about two things:

The first thought is practically parenthetical to the issue I really want to talk about, but: how obnoxious is it to go to a venue where seating is not assigned, and discover row after row of saved seats? And just so you know: I have been the one who saved the seats, as well as the one who got irritated at the ones saving the seats, so I really do see both sides of this issue. I've been the victim, and the perpetrator. So, I'm really NOT being all high and mighty here. But it IS kind of obnoxious to be the one who can't be seated, don't you think?

And, second, and what I really want to talk about: I THINK I would have done the same thing as the author. I THINK I would have remained true to my friends for whom I was saving the seats, and treated Harrison Ford as "just another person".

But...

Does every one of us have a price?

Is there ONE person for whom you would DEFINITELY throw over your friends, and offer that famous person the seat you had saved for someone else?

OK, and no fair picking "Jesus".

Because anyone with half a brain knows you really BETTER suck up to Him. (On the other hand, wouldn't He consider it a breach of ethics to throw over your friend for someone that you don't know, but whom you consider to be more important or desirable to be with? TRICKY!!!)

(Or, is saving a seat for ANYONE  not a matter of saying to the one asking for the seat: "This person, for whom I am saving the seat, is more to be preferred/more important than you are".  So, in fact, is saving a seat, at its core, an unloving act?)

I'm getting way too philosophical here, aren't I, when all I really wanted to ask you was THIS:

For whom would you throw your friend under the bus? :-D

That doesn't sound good, does it?

Let me word it differently.

Imagine you've gone to a play to see one of your kids, or someone dear to you. Imagine you've saved seats on either side of you.

For what person (other than Jesus!) would you give one of those seats away?
It can be an actor, or a world figure of any sort. Alive OR dead? Oh, heck, why not. (Although, personally, I think sitting through a play next to a corpse wouldn't be much fun...it'd be kinda dead...)

Who could cause YOU to cave on saving that seat?

And if NO ONE could cause you to cave, please defend your position.

Let's talk! I can't wait to read your comments!