Another Road Block!

Another Road Block!

©Allen Merritt (2016)

Okay, here we go!

Get ready, because this week I am sharing with you a humdinger or a whirlwind story. Every bit of it is true and happened to yours truly.

If you need to hear a story to help you put things into perspective or see things from another angle, then this one should do it.

Recently, I get up at 2:45 am and begin gathering myself for the day. I have to start the day early because I am off to work a job, which requires at least 4 hours of a commute. Yes, it’s another commute to work day. But I’m good. I’m prepared. I allowed plenty of time, so no rush. I also prepare myself in such a way as to make sure I allow myself the chance to get ahead of any rush hour traffic. So, in knowing this I take 5 minutes to grab a cup of coffee to go. Then I hit the road, as they say.

I am rolling along and I see a road sign that said something about a road closure from 9 pm to 5 am. That’s it. Nothing else. Had no idea what that meant in terms of whether there would be any detour or what was going on. But I had a job to get to so I continued to roll along; that is, until I couldn’t!

I drove about 15 miles outside the city and began to slow down to a halt behind several others. It was now 3:30 am. I’m like, “Really!” They were not kidding. The entire interstate was closed/shut down. I would now have to wait at least 1.5 hours before I could continue.

I was surprisingly calm despite the fact I knew I had to be at my destination by 9:30 am. I began calculating my options. If the freeway opens on time I may have just enough time to get there. But wait! I would now hit inter-city rush hour traffic in Los Angeles. Oy! I may be late, but I may still make it. Do I turn around and go home, give up and forget about it. If I did, I would lose the job and future jobs as a result. Was I prepared for that?

Of course, this story is about dealing with issues calmly and positively, so naturally I decide to wait and see how it will unfold even though nothing is in my control except my response to the situation.

One good thought I had was I was not the only one in this jam (pun intended). Many truckers and cars planning on an early start were at a stand still. The clock was ticking. I could hear it like you do on that game show Jeopardy.

Anyway, I just sat there. It was one of those moments where I knew I could do nothing. I also wondered if I would hear those words, “You’ll never work in this town again.”

Finally, the freeway opens at 5:15 am. Every vehicle parked all over the roadway, shoulders and nearby dirt lots sped out of there as quickly as they could. I was one of them. Speedy Gonzalez had nothing on me that day. Interestingly, every vehicle was moving faster than normal to make up time. I felt I was risking everything to save face, but I kept up with flow of traffic. I felt like I was running out of time and was in short time to get there.

Long story short, I did make up some time, but I also hit that early morning rush hour and I knew I would be late. I made my courtesy phone call to inform the appropriate parties I would be late, but would definitely be there. I even took the car pool lane a time or two even though I would not normally take this route. 

Interestingly, several other people were late to work that day. I was not the only one. I made it. Then I had to repeat the commute in evening rush hour to get back home by a certain time. Talk about a crazy day.

Just goes to show you that no matter how much you prepare and plan you cannot always predict what situations, walls, obstacles, hurdles or how other people are going to pop up and say, “Hold on a minute! You’re just going to have to wait a bit!” Hurry up and wait!

In a nutshell, I was calm. I made every effort to do my best. I remained positive despite all odds. For me, this is an example of living life on a positive note. 

Life is interesting and unpredictable, but the main thing is we must remain open to the possibilities.

Go out there and enjoy your week!

Stay positive, my friends!

Cheers!