Things Could Always Be Worse
Another day was over. I sat in my car, turned the key and pulled out of the
parking lot. It was Thursday. I had only one more day until the weekend. Two
days alone with my wife.
I turned left onto the highway. Approaching from the west was an ominous black
storm front. Two miles into my drive, the trees began to sway and dance.
Their leaves fluttered like swarms of butterflies. Rain began to lash, power
washing the layer of farm dust off my car, revealing the original color of the
paint.
I stopped at a red light and watched bolts of lightning striking just out of
view behind buildings. The light turned green. As I passed through the
intersection, I glanced down at my dash. The "battery" light was on. "That
battery is less than two years old. It can't be dead." I thought to myself. My
second thought was, "Will I make it home?"
On the other side of the intersection, traffic came to a stop. It was backed up
due to the storm. My apprehension grew, when I looked at the dash and saw the
"engine" light had joined the "brake" light. The situation was going from bad to
worse.
Fifty feet ahead was the driveway to the parking lot for a golf course. I pulled
to the shoulder, passed the car ahead of me and pulled into the lot. My mind
raced with possible causes and guesses of how much was this going to cost me? It
was obviously an electrical problem. Did lightning cause it? My first thought,
and I hoped I was correct, was the universal belt. It might be the alternator -
a costly replacement. It might even be a computer failure.
I stepped out into the blinding rain, popped the engine bonnet and there,
wrapped around the pulleys like a dead snake, was my broken belt.
I was delighted. I wasn't angry, because all the other possibilities would have
cost several hundred dollars to repair. This was simple and easy.
Ginny picked me up; the car was towed; and the next day, after paying $128 for
repairs, I had my car back.
On the way home, I thanked God the belt hadn't broken on our trip to the
mountains. We would have been stranded without phone service and perhaps no
place to pull over on the narrow and winding roads.
There's two ways to look at all problems we face. Just remember, chances are,
things could always be worse.
Michael T. Smith
heartsandhumor@gmail.com