No control!

My wife and daughter were stuck along the side of the busy road. They had been out shopping when my wife’s car started making a violent bucking sound. They pulled over and were waiting for a tow truck driver to come pick them up.

Of course, the tow trucker driver was taking longer than expected.

I, in turn, was fuming.

My wife had just taken the car in for an oil change and check-up. I had encouraged her to take the car. I never guessed that she’d end up wasting much of her day on the side of the road.

Stuck without a solution

I fumed even more. I was powerless. I couldn’t do anything about the situation. I considered racing up the busy highway, but we both agreed that we weren’t sure how that would help. I couldn’t fix the problem. I couldn’t make it go away. I could only make the problem worse.

In a way, it described my day. I’m finding more and more in life that we really do have little control. Oh, we think we’re in complete control, we think we’ve “got the bull by the horns,” but it’s really one big mirage.

Preparing for everything

Cars, appliances, and electronics all seem to have a mind of their own. It’s like a newborn baby: Want the baby to sleep through the night, it will stay awake until the wee hours of morning. Want the baby to smile for the visiting in-laws, it will be out like a light. Think you’ve packed everything for a little adventure to the store, you better check again, that beautiful little newborn will poop so loudly that the everyone in the store will stop and stare your way and you’ll be searching for that extra diaper. (I speak from experience. Please don’t ask me to point out which kid was the guilty party. The names will be changed to protect the innocent.)

The hits keep coming

Life has a way of proving to us every day that we have no control. So, I fumed and fumed until finally my wife called me to say that the tow trucker driver had finally picked them up and the dealership offered to give her a rental car, until ours was fixed.

Okay, I didn’t see that one coming. Yes, I want  control, but I guess some days you just need to go with the flow.