Change at Jamaica

The only thing constant in life is change.

It’s easy to forget that, when we are thrown that inevitable curve ball, the Universe always provides us with whatever additional info we may need to switch gears.  The trick is to be looking for the solution rather than wallowing in the problem.

One time, I noticed this woman in the library parking lot peering into a car window.  Turns out she had locked her keys (along with her two-year old granddaughter) in the car.  The woman was beside herself.  I went over and asked repeatedly if she had called AAA or needed a ride but she completely ignored me because she was too busy solving the problem by pleading with the two-year old to unbuckle her own car seat and ‘unlock the door for Grandma’.

Another time, it had rained lightly during most of the Mets game (plus they were getting beaten up pretty badly by the Nats) so we bailed before the game was over.  Rather than wait 45 minutes for the train that went to the station where our car was parked, we made the executive decision to take a different line then Uber to the car.  

Other fans had also left early and there were no empty seats so we just stood by the doors with others who were going to transfer at the first stop.  As we waited to pull out of the station, a boisterous group of young fans got on but they quickly see on the display that the train is going to Babylon and wonder out loud if they are on the wrong train.  Someone says, “This train doesn’t go to Ronkonkoma but you can  change at Jamaica.”  Their ears heard none of this; they instead chose to remain convinced they couldn’t get home via this train.  Their mass of bodies exited the train as quickly as they had swarmed in then they stood — silent and still — on the platform, oblivious to our collective motioning and voices trying to tell them they were on the right train.  Eventually the doors closed and the train left them behind.

All the information they needed was there but they chose not to listen.  No doubt they made it home eventually but they likely waited a long time for another train – an awfully high price to pay for getting wrapped up in the drama rather than looking, or listening, for a solution that was right in front of them all along.