“I’m gone,” I said to the receptionist at my office, as I rushed out the door. Today I wanted to catch the train and for once in too many days recently be on time for supper. I got on the subway quickly enough, only to hear the operator say at the next stop, “Everybody off, this is a short run, and we are turning back.” OH, NO! But, I still have a little time yet. The next subway came along soon enough and got me to Union station. That delay was not too bad, I thought, but I had better go quickly.
I took long strides, checked my watch, and then started to run. I darted up the stairs of Gate 25, saw the GO express train to Pickering, and ran to the door only to see the door close six inches in front of my nose. OH, NO!. I will just have to get the next train, what else can I do? It came along soon enough, but to my dismay it was the milk-run stopping at all stops on the way to Pickering. OH, NO! Well, there still might be a chance of my just making it home on time. And there was some good news. Since I was the first one aboard, I did not have to stand and I got a good seat in the quiet zone.
Five minutes into the trip, the alarm in our car sounded. The attendant who was in the hospitality car at the middle of the train, spoke over the loudspeakers saying, “There is an alarm in car 2021. I will be right there.” I then noticed that car 2021 was my car. I had not heard or seen anything dramatically alarming. A few minutes later he arrived with his first aid kit. Everyone remained quiet, we were in the quiet zone of the train. I could overhear him talking to a passenger but could see little. Then over the loudspeakers, I heard. “Passengers, there will be a delay while we await EMS.”
OH, NO! Now, for sure, I would not make it home for supper. The delay seemed quite long to me, who had been rushing all afternoon. Some seven or eight minutes later two paramedics boarded the car with all their equipment. They attended to the distressed passenger and eventually helped him off the train. As he left, he said, “I am sorry folks.” A chorus of passengers responded immediately, “Don’t worry, no problem.” Wow, I thought to myself, people are good and compassionate! Like me, they must have had plans that were delayed or interrupted. Instead of complaining, they supported the patient as he left the train.
Then the GO attendant spoke again over the loudspeakers. “I want to thank all the passengers for their patience, especially those in car 2021 who were such a support to the person with the medical alert. He is going to be fine. Thank you very much for your patience. I am sorry for any inconvenience. We will now be on our way.” What a consoling and helpful announcement! There was no way I was going to be on time for supper now, but this trip was teaching me something about priorities. Responding patiently and kindly to people in distress is more important than meeting the deadlines I put on myself.
The train finally arrived in Pickering, some 25 minutes late. I started my walk home and remembered Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. On his journey the little prince met a lamplighter who said he followed a terrible profession because the speeding up of his planet without a change in his orders meant that he now had to light the lamp and then just one minute later he had to extinguish it. He was rushed off his feet and had no time ever to sleep. I also remembered the railway switchman the little prince met. He told the little prince that the rushing commuters were always dissatisfied with where they were and were pursuing nothing at all. They slept away most of the trips. Only the children flattening their noses against the window-panes knew what they were looking for. Only the children were free from the rush and could waste time with a doll.
Filled with these thoughts, I had only walked one third of the way home, when a friend came along in a car and offered me a ride home. What an unexpected surprise! I had exclaimed OH, NO! so often in the last two hours, but now I was saying, OH, YES! It felt so good! I got home just ten minutes late for supper and was able to eat supper with the community as I had hoped. I told them the story of my trip home emphasizing how surprised I was at seeing how good and kind people can be.
Later on in my Examen, I reflected that I am almost always in a rush and almost always insist on meeting the objectives and deadlines I set for myself. I was being invited to learn that interruptions can be full of instruction and opportunity. Remember the Good Samaritan? Because I often don’t allow enough time for things I may continue to urge myself on with GO, GO, GO, (hopefully not so often), but it need not be followed by the exclamation of frustration, OH, NO! If I can replace that exclamation with OH, YES to whatever the interruption will bring, I will have the joy of being surprised more often by the goodness that can spontaneously burst out around us. I will experience a joy that surpasses achieving all pre-set goals. OH, YES!