The Best Bad Idea

We all have them.  More importantly, at some point we all must choose from among them.  And of course I'm talking about bad options.

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I loved Argo -- for many reasons -- but mainly for making "the best bad idea we have" so very entertaining.  For most of us the stakes are thankfully not quite so high, but the process is no less infuriating.  You find yourself saying again and again "These are my only options?" or "This is the best we can do?" and the answer always come back "Uh, yeah."


If by some miracle you haven't seen the clip from Argo (watch for it at 1:31), it goes something like this:

In light of the gravity of the film's subject matter I hesitate to say that we've all been held hostage by bad options, yet we have all been in the position of trying to help the very people who resist our best (bad) ideas. Whether it is your child, your partner, or your elderly parent, at some point nearly everyone will be faced with options that don't make anyone happy.  You are forced to make the best of the situation.  It is a task that life demands from all of us.

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What, exactly, is my point here?  It's this:   we all have the potential to be in the position to make a decision that may be the only viable option in a bad situation, and by making that difficult decision, we will be met with skepticism and frustration and perhaps even hostility.  We realize that we may take it on the chin in the short run, but we stand by the decision because we know it is the option that offers the best long-term outlook.  If we're lucky, one day someone may recognize the difficulty of the situation, and the complexity of our choice, and the fortitude it took to do the right thing.

But probably not.  I think that "real life" is a lot like one of Argo's closing scenes, where Mendez is told that he is being awarded highest honors, but for reasons that are classified, and therefore no one will publicly acknowledge the bravery, the success, the ingenuity, etc. of Mendez' actions.

To distill my point even further:  doing the right thing, especially if it's the best bad option, is sometimes it's own reward.  And probably one that can only be savored alone.  "If we'd wanted applause, we'd have joined the circus."