Friday, November 6, 2009

Fate and circumstance


Fate…does it exist? Do we experience things because we're meant to or because we’re just in the right place at the right time?

I spent the past two nights working on a marine biology presentation for M’s science club. Biology is my thing; I wanted to attend M’s club this a.m. Unfortunately, my attempts to take the day off were unsuccessful.

So, with regret, I dropped M. and my presentation materials at her meeting and left for work. I arrived, reached into my mailbox and came up empty handed. I should have come up with a pair of keys that unlock my file and supply cabinets. Slightly panicked, I hurried to my classroom, franticly searching logical misplacement spots.

Within minutes, I was back in my car, heading home to search. No luck there either, plus I was now late. I calmly called my assistant, verifying her presence in the classroom, hung up the phone and fought tears of frustration. I was up late last night and allowed tears of frustration…

Regaining emotional control, I stared at a semi-truck in front of me, slamming on the brakes as his back, cargo door swung open. Cars in the right lane swerved away from the door, and I decided lost keys were minor compared to a traffic accident.

I waited for swerving drivers next to the trucker to honk, yell, wave, salute…thereby letting him know about the door—no one bothered, which certainly merits another blog, but today I’m more interested in fate.

Afraid to pass on the right, thereby connecting with the swinging door, I was relieved when the truck’s left turn signal lit up. The driver turned into the far right lane of a four-lane road. I followed into the left lane beside him…fate again? Honking and gesturing (yes, I was careful regarding my middle finger) led to the driver pulling over and dealing with the problem.

Relieved, I finished driving to class, where my keys turned up…in someone else’s mailbox. I’ll deal with that issue on Monday…sometimes sharing a classroom with another teacher is not an easy task…

Tonight, I’m thinking about the series of events that led to my driving behind that trucker at the exact moment his freight door swung open. He was almost to the freeway when I stopped him, and obviously, no other drivers were going to step up. I can only imagine the danger his cargo door would have caused at 65 miles per hour, especially during morning traffic.

Fate…coincidence? I guess each of us has to find our own answer to that question…I’m pretty comfortable with my thoughts on the subject. I was in the right place at the right time doing the right thing, and three rights definitely make a left…

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