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HAVE YOU CONSIDERED ...
I was to go from Surfside Beach to Duke University on Monday for a writers workshop. My wife, Alma, had gotten a ride to our home in Gaffney on Sunday morning, leaving me at the beach house alone. This was going to be a new experience. All the responsibility was mine: cleaning and closing the house; packing my clothes and books; and loading TV, boxes of food and fruit and bags of dirty clothes in the van. Having never driven from Surfside Beach to Durham, N.C., I also had to study my map to figure out route and time. For others this would be a simple task. But knowing my ability to turn the simple into the complex, I planned every detail with a determination to do this job with finesse and success. Sunday afternoon and evening I worked hard, then went to bed with the confidence of a West Point cadet ready for inspection. Such efficiency would surely avert any possible foulups. Monday morning, at the exact time I had planned, I headed for Durham. Cruising up the interstate listening to stereo music, I felt good about myself. What a virtue to be so organized. If only Alma could have seen this. I could hardly wait to tell her about it. Miles had gone by and Durham should be close. Suddenly a tidal wave rolled over my sea of tranquility. The road sign read, "Durham 94 miles." I looked at my watch and made a hurried calculation. "Keep calm!" I kept saying to myself aloud, but I couldn't resist the urge to drive a little faster. That was a mistake. A car pulled in front of me and I had to brake quickly. Now books, carrots, dirty clothes and cases were mixed in one huge pile. The sight was sickening. Puffing, hot and embarrassed I made the afternoon session of the workshop, except for the first hour. Later when I arrived at the home of friends with whom I was staying, a second tidal wave struck. I dug under the pile in the van and found my suitcase but I couldn't find my hanging clothes. I dug deeper. No luck. The truth became obvious. I had left them in the closet at the beach. What a day and trip this had turned out to be! Now this was not the first time I had ever experienced being late or forgotten clothes. But before, I had always been able to convince myself that Alma was to blame. She made us late. She forgot the clothes. These were her faults, not mine. Now the truth was in. It could not be escaped. Alma was not involved, but I had been late and also forgotten clothes. The biggest tidal wave of all was the discovery that these faults I had so long thought were hers were actually mine. What a revolting bit of news!
When I first started up the road to Durham, I could hardly wait to tell Alma how efficiently and punctually I had handled this trip. As it turned out, waiting to tell her was the easiest part of the whole experience! |
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