One of man's most primal urges is to sit in the front seat of his friend's car, and disputes about this critical issue can be dated all the way back through recorded human history. Among the earliest notable American disputes was an incident in the early 1800s when John Adams and Thomas Jefferson got into a fist fight about who would sit at the front of Alexander Hamilton's horse-drawn carriage.
Jefferson won that fight, and that is just one reason that "shotgun" - named because of the high number of deaths that come from shotgun wounds following seating arrangement fights - is a very important issue for University students. Another reason is that students here should be familiar with all sports rules - or at least, the less popular competitions because the revenue sports are not generating anything.
For the rest of this column, I will outline basic shotgun rules and propose some exceptional circumstances or alternatives to standard shotgun semantics.
The basics
The most important principle for shotgun is that the owner of the vehicle - presumably the driver - holds the final word about who will sit in the front seat while he is driving. Let us say, though, that he will have no strong preference about who will sit next him as he drives.
As long as this underlying tenet is followed, the possession of the coveted front seat for any ride will be determined by shotgun-calling protocol.
In short, whoever first calls "shotgun" while approaching the vehicle for departure shall have control of the front seat for the ensuing leg of the trip. "Shotgun" can only be called by someone who is outside and who can see the car.
In the case of a dispute about whether all of the basic semantics of shotgun were followed or about who made the call first, the owner of the vehicle reserves full arbitration rights.
Special circumstances
As elegant as this system is, it does leave some holes open for exploitation. Thus, shotgun rules have been continually revised and improved over the years to deal with unusual situations in an attempt to make the entire scheme more watertight.
First, there will be instances in which the driver shall make the decision about who will sit in the passenger seat and not be considered a major tool-bag. First, as defined by the McDonald's Maxim, anyone who foots the driver's fast food bill will be allowed to take the front seat home.
Similarly, the Birthday Brocard states that anyone whose birthday it is has front seat priority.
A more pivotal exception is the Significant Others Axiom, which states that any boyfriend, girlfriend, fianc
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