A stopped school bus, a grouchy old guy and stopping to smell some roses

I rushed out the door running late and a little frazzled.

With a satchel over my shoulder, carrying my laptop, phone in one hand and a stack of invoices to be mailed cradled between my chin and chest I was moving along fine until I realized that my truck was locked and the keys were in my pocket.  As I tried (unsuccessfully) to fish my keys out I muttered some not-very-nice words under my breath and started sitting things down so I could gain entrance to my truck.  Of course, I dropped the letters in the driveway. And, of course again, it had rained overnight.

I had scheduled back-to-back meetings for 8:30, 9:30 and 10:30 that morning and with two stops to make before I left town I realized I would be life and death to make it on time to the first one.  As I started my truck I looked around and realized that I had left a small notebook on my desk that had phone numbers for calls I wanted to make as I drove to my first meeting.  I told you I was frazzled.  I bounded from the truck and headed back in the house to retrieve the notebook.  Ugggggh!  This day is off to a fine start I thought as I finally backed out of the driveway.

As I drove toward the post office to mail the invoices I passed a corner that serves as a bus stop.  I noticed a boy, probably high school age, sitting on the sidewalk.  The unusual way he was sitting caught my attention.  He appeared to be sitting back on his heels and he was tall and sort of gangly and it made for an odd site.  I mumbled something under my breath about ‘being so young but too tired to stand’ … and added another line about ‘maybe too lazy to stand.’  The young boy was quickly out of my mind as I turned the corner to the post office because after all I was a busy man with a hectic schedule and I was running behind.

As I exited the alleyway from the outside postal box I turned back up the street and quickly found myself behind a bus at the same bus stop where the young man was sitting on the sidewalk.  I again uttered a few oaths under my breath as I saw the red flashing lights of the school bus come on as it stopped to pick up the students.  Again, I mouthed under my breath about my misfortune and all the problems I had trying to get out of town.

As I took a deep breath I noticed that even though the bus had pulled up the young boy was still in the same position.  While other kids boarded the bus I noticed that he slowly started to stand and he seemed a little unsteady.  He now had my full attention as I watched him put his backpack on and turn toward the bus.  His steps were small and he walked with a severe limp.  In another era he would have been called crippled but now in our politically correct world he is referred to as handicapped.  Either way he had some major challenges just moving a few feet. His steps were labored and painful even to watch.

As I forgot about trivial things like hard to reach truck keys, forgotten notebooks, scheduled meetings and being on time I wondered if it hurt him to walk and I hoped out loud that it didn’t.  I also wondered who he is, what his life is like, if navigating the hallways of school is difficult and if he has friends.  I also wondered why it is that some people (certainly me on this morning) can automatically assume the worst without knowing anything about a person or a circumstance. And I retraced my steps that morning, how easily I had maneuvered through the morning, walking here, walking there and griping every step of the way about things that really didn’t matter.  It was not a real proud moment for me and in fact it was one of those moments when I had to perform an attitude adjustment on myself.

As I sat and waited for his slow walk to the bus, each step making me grimace a little, I said a prayer for the young boy – a prayer that his day, his week, his school year and his life would be good.  I also said a prayer for a too-busy, impatient, sometimes-grouchy old guy who needs to be reminded frequently to stop and smell the roses.

On an average weekday morning I was reminded that many times in our high-tech, fast-paced, hustle-bustle world that life-lessons are standing right on the corner just waiting for us to pass by – even if it sometimes takes the flashing red lights of a stopped school bus to get us to slow down and see them.