Sunday, April 12, 2009

When does hiding an easter egg become littering?

I've been thinking lately about coincidences (or, as my euro lit professor pronounces it, kaincidences). What brings me to this thought is an incident from a few days ago. Like most days (not so much lately) I walked over to the bus stop. Well, ran, really. I don't like missing the bus too often. When I got there, a lady was sitting on the bench waiting for the bus. I sat down next to her, and from the corner of my eye, I saw her take out a cigarette. I see the "No Smoking" signs that plaster the stops, but at the same time, people smoke around there all the time, so I ignored it. That is, until she lit up. The smell instantly told me she was smoking an entirely different plant.
Cigarettes, I've gotten used to smelling, since it's everywhere. Marijuana, on the other hand, I can't stand. Mainly because it smells so much like body odor. Like, I haven't showered for a long time and I sweat profusely type of body odor. So i was sitting there, keeping from gagging and trying hard not to make it look like I was supressing gags when two busses arrived. Both busses arrived to the stop I needed to get to, but they got there differently. One bus was the 72, which has lots of stops, and takes longer to where I needed to get. The other was the 72R, which got there much quicker. On a normal day, I would've taken the 72R. But today, the lady smoker expressed out loud her desire to take the R, so today it was the 72. Even though it takes longer to get to my stop, usually I don't have to wait to long. But today, for some reason, there was someone that needed to get on or off at EVERY stop, making the ride much, much longer. The R had passed us long ago.
By the time I reached my stop, My next bus was already leaving its stop. Had I taken the R, I would have been on it. But, my choice forced me to wait for the next bus. As I stood there, waiting to cross the street to the stop and cursing my luck and my choice, I heard an elderly lady behind me. She was asking the people around me, "Do you know how to get to Dana and Durant?" Everyone she asked either ignored her or shrugged. She wasn't going to get any help here. So I spoke up. "Actually," I told her. "That stop is on the 51, a little ways down." I pointed her to the right bus, which was the bus I happened to be taking. Funny thing is, Dana and Durant is the stop I always get off on when going to school. The old lady smiled. "Thank you. Have a nice day." When i got off at my stop, I was feeling pretty good, having done my good deed for the day.
Then I started thinking. Had I decided to go on the R, that lady might have still been asking around, not sure of what bus to take. Sure, she might have found help eventually, but because I was late, I was able to help her, when no one else did. Then I thought of how funny coincidence is, how things that seem like bad luck at first can actually become beneficial, maybe not for myself but for the sake of others. The smallest choices we make can have big impact on the whole. Take that day for instance. My missing the 51 allowed me to help that old lady. But the cause of that was my decision to take the 72 instead of the R. But the cause of that was the lady smoking weed. So that annoyance was a good thing but it goes even beyond that.
My time with the weed smoker was caused by my running late. But my running late was caused by my desire to have 5 more minutes of sleep. But the cause of that was my staying up a few extra hours. And the cause of that was a really interesting chapter. See where I'm going with this? Coincidence is always thought to be because of chance, but maybe that's not it. Maybe coincidence is the result of the choices we make. I don't know, but even if we have that predetermined route that leads to some chance encounter or occurence, I'm still amazed and awed by it. These small miracles that dot our day might seem insignificant or just by chance, but don't you think it's pretty amazing that out of the vast pool of things that could have happened in that small encounter, a coincidence occured?

5 comments:

  1. I like this blog...it's long for a reason (UNLIKE THE ONE BEFORE THIS ONE...I'M STILL WONDERING WHY).

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  2. I really enjoyed reading this too!

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  3. Much better than that other blog that was too long with no point.

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  4. Yeah, good blog Vincent. I think about this too sometimes, makes you wonder.

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