I've decided there are few things more satisfying in the 21st century than forced stalling.
A couple weeks back, after driving girlfriday to the airport, she called me from a pay phone to say she'd forgotten to pack her cell phone so we shouldn't try to reach her on it. A few hours later she discovered it was a false alarm and the phone was just hidden in her makeup bag. She confessed to me that those few hours were actually quite liberating, and finding her phone was even a little bit of a letdown.
Without her phone, girlfriday couldn't answer or make calls -- it was out of her hands and out of her control. After the first five minutes or so of panic wash over, situations like this are kind of comforting.
It's the same effect when I'm driving down a busy street and the car in front of me is going the same speed as the car beside me. Both are too slow, but I can't do anything about it. Even though I'm a typically efficient driver, it feels a little good to know that getting to my destination on my own time ain't gonna happen.
There's one more way that letting go is a beautiful thing.
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Or like when the whole city loses power. Remember that? People were selling bottled water to drivers. Traffic inched along; after all, the lights were out.
Disaster (even the minor disaster of, gasp, forgetting your phone), is a great equalizer.
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