What I Did Not See
But the camera did.
But the camera did.
This afternoon I was having a conversation about cats with a co-worker. “Why do they prefer the plastic construction tarp (I was having a damaged ceiling repaired) to all the more comfortable locations around the house?” I wondered.
I showed her the silly cat photo:
My friend started scrolling through the photos on my phone. She stopped at a heart-shaped cloud and said she liked it. I told her that I regularly post photos of heart shapes I notice as I go about my day. I said that it is a reminder to myself to be open-hearted (but with boundaries) as I live each day.
She said that she noticed heart shapes, too. She said that there had been a some kind of food or drink spill in the file room–she was sure that no one would have cleaned it up–that was a perfect heart shape.
We went to the file room. Yes, there it was, a sticky heart.
This morning I found myself on a bus instead of the train to New York because of the horrible accident on Tuesday.
While waiting for the bus, I was interviewed by local TV. They were interested in reactions of people whose travel plans were impacted by the accident.
This is roughly what I said:
This was a horrible tragedy that need not have happened. (I suppose it was for the best that I had not seen the news that a certain candidate for President was quoted as saying that we shouldn’t use a tragedy as an excuse to spend more money on things like safety lest I explain why we need better safety, more spending on mental health care, better treatment of employees, and more investment in infrastructure instead of lowering taxes for the wealthy, etc.) I said that the inconvenience meant nothing to me when I think of those who were on the train. I said that I wouldn’t stop taking the train. One accident would not change my commitment to using public transportation instead of the greater environmental impact of driving.
And I said I’d had a good experience with Amtrak customer service. I didn’t say it to the camera, but I expect part of my positive experience was my recognizing when I spoke with an agent that the customer service employees must be having an incredibly stressful time of it.
View from the bus, approaching Manhattan.
Peace, Paz, Shanti
