Ingram Book Group

There are necessary evils in life. And in business. For Outskirts Press, our necessary evil right now is Ingram.

Daily Frustration: Ingram.

Picture a big yummy pie. You're hungry and you want it all to yourself. Unfortunately, your parents are making you share the pie with your siblings. You have two older brothers and a younger sister. The eldest brother is somewhat of a control freak and would normally divide the pie himself. But since you baked the pie, you get to take the first piece. You take as much as you want, realizing that the remainder has to be divided up among your brothers and sister.

Your oldest brother takes the remaining pie from you. He takes a piece and then hands the rest to your other brother.

Now, this brother is kind of a pig. He'd eat pie all day long if he could. He looks longingly at his brother's pie, and longingly at your piece. Then, before leaving the crumbs for your little sister, he takes nearly all of what's left.

As you see your little sister licking the bottom of the pie tie for morsels of crust and filling, you wonder to yourself if she would have received more if you had taken less. Or would your pig-of-a-brother simply helped himself to the extra, no matter how small of a piece you took?

Asking your brother that question is pointless. He was born without a tongue. Boy can he eat, though.

Kind of makes you wish you were an only child, doesn't it?