In Pleyn Sayht

In Pleyn Sayht
Category: Life


Life thinks its funny. And I agree. After all, when you make some stupid decision and look back on it years later, you laugh don't you? You can thank life for that. I find its best humor comes from the "hidden" messages. You know, the ones that are quite clearly a message but you have an epiphany years later that reveals a totally unexpected meaning to that same message. Good stuff.

A few years ago, I can't remember specifically which year, I was driving, which in part is why I don't recall which year because I drive so much, to work. I had my Yukon back then. I suppose it had to have about 3 years ago. That sounds like a fair number. Regardless of when, it was raining incredibly hard that day. I was running late for work as usual. Everything about the day was pretty routine really. I pulled out of the drive way, turned onto the main road and realized that my wind-shield wipers were not functional. A 12-mile drive that usually takes 15 minutes turned into an hour-long expedition.

No sooner had I pulled out onto the main road, the weather intensified. Cannon balls of water pummeled the city. Despite having pulled over to the side of the road, I could see nothing more than 20-ft from my vehicle. My phone was disconnected, as usual, because I didn't feel like paying the bill on time. I had to be at work. I tried to wait the storm out some but nature showed no commissary to my patience. Reluctantly, my Yukon and I dove back into the slippery maelstrom.

I almost wish somebody could have seen me driving. I felt like I looked like a 90+ year-old grandmother behind the wheel of my 3-ton behemoth. I imagine my journey might not have been as dramatic if I was driving something more agile, say, the car I have now. But I wasn't. For 12-miles, I did not dare to blink. Traveling at 30-mph on the interstate is far from an enjoyable task. But I made it work. Thinking about it now, I probably should have apologized to my steering wheel for the molesting grip I subjected it to.

Meanwhile, nature is still bombarding Clarksville with an onslaught of precipitation. The rain was so heavy, I firmly believe that a small child could have jumped into the sky and swam to the clouds that day. No markings on the street were visible. Everyone was just guessing where the lanes were. I didn't mind them at all. My abomination of a vehicle and I trudged onwards. We finally made it to work.

I get in the turning lane in front of my wonderful place of employment and signal appropriately. I masterfully navigate into my parking space and decide to take a breather. As I'm sitting there, the most frustrating event takes place; my wipers turn on. Delightful. I sat there in awe. Firstly, I was thankful that they did indeed still posses the capacity to function. Whether or not they would continue to do so, well that was trivial at the moment. Next, I was uncontrollably infuriated. This, of course, didn't help anything or serve any particular purpose but it did feel pretty good to pretend that I just let Life have the cussing of the century. As I calmed down, I began to rationalize things. I figure, Life isn't really all that bad. It did, after all, let me live, right?

So why did Life pick this most dangerous of situations to prove a point? At that time, or soon thereafter, I came to the conclusion that Life had just left me a sticky note. On it a message:
"Pay attention." ~Love, Life
Now I will be the first to admit that I am a pretty literal person. I usually take things at exactly face value. Pay attention. It doesn't get more straight forward than that. Being the genius that I am, I quickly analyzed the electrical and mechanical aspects of the wiper unit. To my dismay and satisfaction, yes it was most definitely both, the screws holding the wipers in the proper place were loose and upon tightening them, they continued to work.

Pay attention. Such a simple message. Its still carried with me to this day. Life is a clever thing. It doesn't do things for such simple reasons as we originally discover. I have continued to analyze this sticky note. I've identified the font size and style, the Pantone of the ink, the weight and brand of the paper and even the IP address of the computer that it was typed from. Lo and behold there was much more to that message than meets the eye. I mean of course it did only say "pay attention," but what did that really mean?

Somebody once said that hindsight is always 20/20. You can look up whomever said that yourself because I don't feel like ti right now. And I'm sure you'll find that I didn't quote it exactly but that is irrelevant as well. The important thing is that for years and years I haven't been paying attention. I've been so captivated by anything and everything and nothing that so much has changed and has been going on and I've missed it. There were specific instances in which paying attention would have saved me a great deal of heartache. Others would have alleviated some extraordinary financial stress. And its okay. I decided to ignore some advice. Well... Maybe not ignore but at least show ignorance towards.

The only thing that matters now is that I'm paying attention. I've become familiar with everything that did happen, almost happened, could have happened, might not have happened, might still happen, probably will never happen, and every other fathomable series of situations. I'm paying attention. I see it all now. Never again will I allow my confidence blind me.