Can You Do This?
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There’s a reason you’re looking at Charlton Heston’s Moses. It’s, er, like this…
I must admit, there are a few things I do that drive Mrs. MZM crazy. Heck, let’s be honest here; there’s lots of things I do that drive her crazy. Really crazy. (Shocking, I know. But sadly… so true.)
For instance…
The other day, we were going home on the freeway during the afternoon’s rush-hour traffic. We decided on the spur of the moment to take an earlier exit and stop by the local home improvement store. (Something about a honeydew… melon, or something. Or was it a list? I don’t remember.)
Anyway, I have to admit, the exit off the freeway and subsequent entrance to the store’s parking lot are a bit close together. But normally it’s not a problem to slow down quickly, cut across three lanes of feeder road, and zip into the drive. However, during evening rush-hours the feeder can be almost as full of traffic as the freeway.
Well, you may remember a few weeks ago I mentioned how Mrs. MZM gets nervous in traffic, right? OK, here’s what happened, I swear.
As I tooled down the exit ramp, I looked over my right shoulder to check the oncoming feeder traffic, scanning for an opening. As I exited the ramp I could see a big clump of cars just ahead of me, another clump back behind me – and absolutely not one car in my way as I moved across three lanes and zipped right into the parking lot, as easy as you please!
Mrs. MZM looked over at me in disbelief. “That’s so irritating!” she sighed, shaking her head. “You know it only happens for you. It’s like Moses parting the Red Sea, or something!” (Hence Mr. Heston’s photo. Get it? The sea parted? The traffic parted? Oh, never mind.)
The really odd thing is… she’s right. It does happen that way a lot. Weird.
OK, here’s another one for you; this one from ‘way back.
A building I used to work in had all four of its elevators grouped together in one area. Every day as I left work, I’d step into the elevator lobby, press the down button, and play the “which one will it be?” game. I promise I’m not making this up: for a period of more than two months I picked the correct one every single day. In fact, it got so spooky I purposely quit guessing. Very weird.
Anyhoo –
This traffic thing got me to thinkin’ (which is probably that strange noise you hear), and I’m kinda curious now.
How often do you experience moments when, through (and this is critical) absolutely no influence of your own, things just fall right into place – as if you’d planned it that way all along? I’ll probably write a bit more about this sometime soon, but in the meantime, I invite you to contribute to the discussion…
Has it ever happened to you? What does/did it mean to you? Care to share it?
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13 responses so far
Middle Zone Musings is a comfortable place to stop, have a cup of coffee, swap a few stories and share practical ideas for the real world. I don't ask for much, just a bit of your brain every now and then. Have a seat, take a load off, and relax...
Robert, no I can’t do stuff like that. I’m just not one of those people. And I’m with Mrs MZM on this one - when other people can it’s enough to drive me crazy!!
Joanna
First thank you for the stumble and I’ll be making another list in the next week. Second, OMG I’d be going nuts. Course I’m the type that hubby has to pry my hands off the door before he is driving. He too darts across and I’m always waiting for that one driver. UGh. lol. But I agree it is irritating as it would take me all day to get across. Oh and my son is the elevator guesser, he gets it right all the time. Not sure how he does it.
@Joanna - On behalf of those of us who have the, er, “gift of inexplicable happenings”… we don’t do it on purpose - I promise!
@Eliza - You’re welcome on the stumble; it’s a good list but I didn’t want you to forget Pete! Thanks for dropping by, and welcome to the Middle Zone!
First of all the Charleton Heston pic is one of my all time favorites. It made my day. I had the same commute for about 15 years. It took me through about 20 stop lights. One time and one time only I made every single green light. It took days for the thrill to subside.
Brad; Yep, I know that feeling too - check this one out: A Shining Moment of Glory
Then there was that time back in college when I bowled an amazing 200 game (my average was about 135) - and didn’t have a single witness! *sigh*
I think this is one of those things in life that if we ever stopped to think about it we would be paralyzed.
Driving across three lanes of traffic should scare anyone—but
Being a man I can identify with gathering just enough peripheral vision of traffic to maneuver my car across 3 lanes to my target.
In traffic if you stop and ponder your choices—you crash
Life is one big merging traffic lane—and if some decisions have to be automatic.
It’s something to do with choosing the path of least resistance, isn’t it? I find that when I’m on the right track, the right books, the right teachers, the right contacts, the right opportunities all fall into place at the right time. It’s a good feeling, isn’t it, Robert!
@ Mike - “Life is one big merging traffic lane…” Hmmm… I’ll have to think about that one - but you may be right. You have to be ready to adjust at a moment’s notice. Not bad, Mike!
@ Amy - Maybe, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about when you have absolutely no control over anything - but it mysteriously falls into place anyway! That’s what’s weird!
I find it happens to me often. Your fumbling along in life and then it seems that everything seems to be working out. As it relates to cars though, I can hit every single red light, even the ones NO ONE hits. It’s almost a running joke with my family. But I can get some darn good parking spots!
Oops, forgot to proofread. It’s late. That should be “You’re fumbling” not your. I hate when people don’t use the right word.
Ah, now parking spots are worth their weight in gold! Mrs. MZM’s goal: “In the front and in the shade!” is like the holy grail of parking.
And don’t worry ’bout the flub. It hoppens to everboody now and thin! :-0
Prompted by Deb’s comment a friend once told me that she always got a parking place in Edinburgh ( which is a small compact and notoriously car unfriendly city) whenever she wanted one. She just believed she would - and she did. She suggested I try it - and I kid you not - it worked! But I have to believe ( really believe not pretend) that I will find a space from the moment I get in the car in the driveway. Any wavering and I will be searching forever.
Jackie
You know, Jackie, that’s almost exactly what I did with the elevator thingie. But then, I stopped even thinking about it and just picked one at random - and it still worked! After that I got spooked - and quit.