Mr. Garrison of Mannford

I know this one is a bit lengthy, but thank you for reading through it. I will definitely admit that life after college is different in a multitude of ways. One of the most prominent is perhaps the scarcity of day-to-day drama. Perhaps its due to the fact that adults just tend to mellow out. After a certain period, they accept the fact that you can't turn your life into a soap opera over every little topic. Besides the fact that you'd be setting yourself up for a nice, messy heart attack, you realize that the people you work with everyday don't want to hear it. Sadly, a lot of them "over-mellow" and just lose passion in anything and everything. These are the ones you see moping through the halls with coffee in hand, beaten to death somewhere along the line when an idea or philosophy they cared about was crushed and they choose to sit out of the fight rather than push on against the crowd. I hear Dani had nice words at the banquet in emphasizing that your passion sometimes may be so strong that others may make fun of you for it. So be it.

But I digress.

Today was one of the drama peaks. Sure it levels out and adults push it to the side, but somehow that becomes almost a type of repressed anger, bound to release itself in some infuriated rage rather than gradual healthy emotion. By "drama" I mean, of course, experiencing highs and lows of the spectrum all in one 16-hour period.

Start of the day, I wake up from some weird dream about College Station of all places. I was driving back to my house from a restaurant dragging an enormous pork chop from the back of my truck that my dad had requested. What? Don't your parents ever eat leftovers? Of course I pass Kyle Field, park and enter the stadium. Embarrased by the fact that I still have my umbrella open, I close it and turn the corner to see Eric Heidt doing some sort of human pyramid gymnastics. Don't ask. Whatever it was, it was noteworthy enough to make the Jumbo-Tron big screen in the stadium.

Back in reality, I make it to work on time, energized from my dry Great Grains cereal I had on the drive in. The day goes well, as Fridays usually do. Only a half-day at Basden Steel, but I serve my monthly duty of staying all day on a Friday. Get to spend some good time with my two bosses talking about an exciting new program for our company that I get to be a part of, leaving our meeting feeling that I am really starting to get a chance to show them what I'm capable of. Something that I have been missing is a clear and accessible outlet to show my passion for the team, or company in this case. I was so psyched about it that I practically drew up every detail of the plan in the next hour or so. Four o'clock rolled around, providing sufficient time to have served my "in the barrel" duties, as we refer to all-day Fridays. Off I go in my nice, gleaming 2002 Red Ford F-150, extended cab. I was fortunate enough to be given a company vehicle last October and had been reflecting on how proud I was of it. A lot different than my Escort that I had been with for 4 years.

With my mind still stirring of ideas and possibilities for the new corporate program, I mounted my trusty steed and away we went down Renfro Street. Up to the intersection with I-35W we came, finding as usual heavy traffic waiting at the light to go straight. Calmly and casually, I guided my gallant truck into the right-hand turn lane that split off from all of the traffic. But I believe it's about time for that drama to erupt, don't you? Approaching on the opposite side of Renfro Street is one Mr. Everett Garrison of Mannford, Oklahoma, waiting to turn left into the Waffle House parking lot. This is not entirely unreasonable as Mr. Garrison is approaching the century mark in his life accompanied by his walker-assisted wife who occupies his passenger seat. Sitting in the back seat are two of his granddaughters and their dog, Princess. What Old Man Everett failed to realize is that somewhere between the invention of the automobile and multi-fuel engines, they invented a little something called right-of-way. This concept revolves around the idea that two objects cannot hold the same space at the same time. Basic physics really. Unaware of this universal concept, Everett proceeds to guide his Ford Taurus between a gap in the long line of stopped cars. However, trusting too much in the car that waved him on, somehow under the assumption that no car or red Ford truck was coming around the bend in the adjacent lane, the Taurus moved into my path.

I'll spare you the details, because I'm sure you know the rest. Needless to say, they involved six startled victims, five of them human, four solid witnesses, three assisting policemen, two deployed airbags, and a Ford truck with a demolished front end.

I wasn't mad at Mr. Everett. I do however believe that age should come into consideration in reissuing licenses on the later years of life as it does with the earlier years, but I was more upset at the fact that it had happened. After I acquired a rental car, the day continued to present situations that tried and tested me. Rain and lightning gave the road a nice, slick condition which makes all drivers uneasy, but particularly those that just smashed into the side of Princess the dog's car. Pulling into my parking lot and truly pissed at the end of it all, as I was searching for about 10 minutes for the house keys I thought I had lost, a song popped in my head.

"This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it."

Strange, yet very appropriate. Let's look at this day from another standpoint, easily overlooked by the self-consumed human mind. I am healthy and have the luxury of eating meals whenever I want. I'm comfortably employed with company-provided transportation and insurance. I've started to find an outlet for the passion I want to show at work. Angels are real and protected an old woman that was broad-sided by a truck going about twenty-five miles per hour; not one scratch on her actually. Protection continued on busy highways as hundreds of people went about their own business, with the freedom to choose where they wanted to be. I have safety and a shelter, keys or no keys. Car damage is fixable, but what a shame it would be if I didn't let it teach me that each day is God-given.

Besides change, the only other constant in this world is unpredictable circumstances. True freedom and responsibility is having the right to choose how you will react to any situation, whether it's full of drama that suddenly begins to boil over or dreaming of pork chops and a gymnastic Eric Heidt. Something to think about.