On Keeping One’s Cool
Having a short fuse, I need to remind myself to keep things in perspective when something goes awry. Yesterday, when rushing to pick up my car, I got frustrated in traffic and feared I’d be late for the McCain press availability.
But, when I returned my rental car, the people at Enterprise were efficient and polite as were the guys at the VW dealership. On my way to Beverly Hills, I encountered remarkably little traffic (and this on busy streets!) for rush hour. While i didn’t get to the event as early as I should have, I did arrive on time and didn’t miss a minute of McCain’s remarks.
Today, after running an errand, I wanted to grab a sandwich at Subway before returning. As I turned onto a side street where I normally find parking, I saw a spot on the opposite side of the street, but a woman in a luxury car came barreling down the street, delaying my U-turn, later stopping right in front of the sought-after spot, preventing me from taking it.
I was frustrated at the obstacles caused by this one driver. (At the time, I used language that as Rex Harrison might say, “would make a sailor blush.”) But, as I was waiting for her to move her car, I caught sight of a sign indicating that parking on that street was restricted to permit holders at all times, not merely in the evenings as I had thought. Had it not been for her blocking me, I might have missed the sign and gotten a ticket.
After seeing the sign, I headed back to Santa Monica Boulevard and found a spot which had not been available just moments before. This woman whom I had first thought was preventing me from finding a parking spot caused a delay which allowed me to find a spot that in her absence would not have been available.
I thought I’d share these stories with you, particularly those who, like me, have a short fuse as a reminder to keep our cool. Things do work out. And seems that working out is facilitated by people who, in the moment, seem to be blocking our paths.
8 Comments
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Karma. I’m a real believer. If you try to be good, try to be honest, things work in your favor more often than not.
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — May 29, 2008 @ 8:21 pm - May 29, 2008
“Everyone has go to be somewhere.” You just arrived late at the first opportunity which provided the entre to where you were going to end up. That ain’t philosophy, that’s the breaks.
Comment by heliotrope — May 29, 2008 @ 9:55 pm - May 29, 2008
How cynical.
Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — May 29, 2008 @ 10:25 pm - May 29, 2008
Dan, I wouldn’t have guessed you had a short fuse. Your writings betray that inner “impatience” that you say you have.
Having said that, sometimes when you think that things went wrong, they actually went right for a reason.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — May 29, 2008 @ 11:58 pm - May 29, 2008
I was stopped behind a schoolbus a few weeks ago. Some psycho in a Nissan Pathfinder was impatient that I had chosen to obey the law and stop while the bus off-loaded. He not only laid on the horn, he got out of his vehicle and started screaming at me and called me a “f**king Jew.” Then, the bus moved on, I moved on, and he went tearing off, rounding a corner with his brakes squealing. I gotta admit, it was pretty damned funny watching that psycho loser blow his gasket like that.
Anywam ya wanna know why I can’t wait to move off the East Coast… that’s why.
Comment by V the K — May 30, 2008 @ 10:06 am - May 30, 2008
Whenever I am tempted to lose my temper, I take a moment to examine my anger. Most often, the anger dissipates and I am able to move forward in a logical and rational fashion relieved of the inconvenience of allowing emotions to disturb my clear headedness and ability to get things accomplished. This approach works wonders in relationships as well which can be littered with opportunites to lose one’s temper.
Comment by Brian in Brooklyn — May 30, 2008 @ 12:01 pm - May 30, 2008
#5 – Such bigotry, no wonder you want to leave there.
PS – Are you even Jewish, or was the guy just saying that epithet for the hell of it?
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — May 30, 2008 @ 12:09 pm - May 30, 2008
I’m a celibate Mormon, so neither part of his epithet applies.
Comment by V the K — May 30, 2008 @ 1:34 pm - May 30, 2008