A Misunderstanding About Fairness

When it comes to arbitrating a conflict, fairness doesn't always mean that we give each side half of what they were looking for.

Consider a landlord deciding what to do about a parking situation at a duplex they own. 

Christians,

When arbitrating a conflict, whether it be between children in one's family or members of some public sphere, we already know it is wise to carefully consider both sides to be fair.  However, it isn’t fair to assume that both sides should always receive half of what they want. Fairness in considering each side needs to be separated from the idea of which side should get some or all of what they are looking for.    

It isn’t fair to give each side half of what they want when what one side wants is unfairly causing harm to the other, for example. Consider a landlord deciding what to do about a parking situation at a duplex they own.  One tenant, Ralph, is concerned about the parking arrangement he is in with a new tenant, Walter.  Walter has been parking behind him in the evening.  They and the landlord had already agreed that Walter would need to move the car at 7:30 am the next day so Ralph could pull out and go to work.  However, Walter often feels too tired to get up around 7:30 am the next morning.  He often comes out to move the car 15 to 20 minutes late.  However, Walter doesn’t want to park up the street because it can take him up to a minute to walk to the apartment from there and he finds that to be a hassle.

Now, would it be fair to both sides to allow Walter to park behind Ralph for half the week?  It seems like it would be fair at face value because each side would get half of what they wanted.  However, would it be fair to allow Walter to keep Ralph from getting to work on time about half the week because Walter wouldn’t do what he needed to do in the first place?