So much of life is timing. Opportunities missed by minutes, connections made because you were in the exact place that you were supposed to be at the exact right time. In this timing, there is design. It’s rarely visible in the present, usually only in retrospect. But when you do look back, it’s kind of cool.
In high school and college I worked as a landscaper at a retirement community. What does a retirement community have plenty of? Yes,,,, elderly people who are near the end of their driving careers. These folks tend to drive humongous automobiles because it makes them feel safe. Meanwhile, the rest of us are surrounded by 4,500 lb. chunks of metal piloted by people who could fall asleep at any moment. This place had one main drive that wrapped around and through the whole community. My friends and I would walk up and down this road behind commercial mowers, wearing ear protectors. One day I walked up the road with my mower, past the main building toward my next mowing project. Minutes after I passed, one of the residents put her car in drive instead of reverse and drove through some shrubs, off a three foot high retaining wall, and across the road that I had just been walking on. I picture this happening in glorious high speed like the movies. In reality it was probably a slow moving train wreck of an event. Either way, I would have never heard her coming. For me, perfect timing.
I skipped third grade. Why? Because I’m a genius. No. Because I was older than most of the other third graders, and my teacher thought that I would be fine moving on to the next grade. Some years later that same teacher moved on to another school. At this next school, she decided that one of the girls was more advanced than the other seventh graders, and decided to skip her into the eighth grade. Thanks to this teacher skipping us at different times and places, we ended up in the same high school, at the same time, and in the same grade. It worked out well because luckily she agreed to date me, and then later, to marry me. Perfect timing.
The other day I was jonesing for a desert. Something chocolatey, but not too sweet. I rummaged around. The only things left over from the Halloween candy were several Three Musketeers. Let’s be honest. There’s a reason why those things are around long after Halloween. They’re nobody’s favorite. They’re an “okay, if that’s all you’ve got” kind of candy. I ended up sitting on the couch with a small bowl of chocolate chips. It didn’t really cut it. A day later we stopped at the store on the way home from the park. Who was there? The Girl Scouts and their Thin Mints. (Which are more addictive than nicotine) Perfect timing.
LINKS
- Apparently the astronauts on Apollo 10 heard strange music when they were on the dark side of the moon.
- These horror movies were based on real events.
- How much would you pay for some of John Lennon’s hair? Probably not this much.
- For what it’s worth. A psychologist has listed 6 things that are the “keys to happiness and success.”
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