Supererogation
… is the technical term for the class of actions that go “beyond the call of duty” – Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
I do not like to ask
I do not want to have to ask.
Asking is demeaning.
Needing to ask is proof of an
awful, awful lack.
Asking admits this publicly.
I can feel the gasps:
1st Gasper: Look! See! He had to ask.
2nd Gasper: My God! The shame.
1st Gasper: Did she give him what he asked her for?
2nd Gasper: Yes, of course, but it was…
1st Gasper: He expected more.
2nd Gasper: Exactly.
1st Gasper: Poor man. To be put in that position.
Naturally no one ever asks for
what they really need.
That’s not how asking works.
They ask for a token,
to tide them over, then wrap
their disappointment
in a poem as a thank you gift.
Unwanted too, but
that’s not the giver’s problem.
Gifts should never be
about neediness, at least not
about needs you want,
rather those needs you never
realised you needed.
But who would ever welcome
a gift like that?
I do not want to have to ask.
Asking is demeaning.
Needing to ask is proof of an
awful, awful lack.
Asking admits this publicly.
I can feel the gasps:
1st Gasper: Look! See! He had to ask.
2nd Gasper: My God! The shame.
1st Gasper: Did she give him what he asked her for?
2nd Gasper: Yes, of course, but it was…
1st Gasper: He expected more.
2nd Gasper: Exactly.
1st Gasper: Poor man. To be put in that position.
Naturally no one ever asks for
what they really need.
That’s not how asking works.
They ask for a token,
to tide them over, then wrap
their disappointment
in a poem as a thank you gift.
Unwanted too, but
that’s not the giver’s problem.
Gifts should never be
about neediness, at least not
about needs you want,
rather those needs you never
realised you needed.
But who would ever welcome
a gift like that?
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