Navigation

I was at the bus stop at North Hanley station, where I saw an older blind man navigate a narrow and inclined walkway. The walkway had a sharp 90 degree turn and cement sides. He had nothing but his cane for help.

Yet the blind man somehow managed to navigate this walkway unscathed. At the bottom of the walkway, a woman whom I assumed was his wife waited for him. They hugged, and she led him to their vehicle.

I thought in that moment that regardless of any hardships I’d faced before, they still pale in comparison to the battles that millions of others face. I also thought that life’s too short to engage in these sorts of battles alone.

In the blind man’s walk from the metro station, I saw not only the value of companionship, but also the benefit of continuing on for someone else, and the potential added boost of motivation that provides. This sort of benefit clearly makes navigating something that would be seemingly impossible, possible.

Speaking of navigation, it’s common in the post-COVID era to see cars roar through red lights, swerve into oncoming traffic to bypass a slower car, or drive recklessly in various other ways. It’s easy to be upset by this sort of behavior, and indeed these sorts of drivers reek of anxiety and manic depression, which probably permeates to other drivers on the road.

However, the universe is playing a cruel joke on them. By attempting to cut corners, they save no time. They risk life and limb, sure, but they are still bound to a system of traffic flows and employment start times. They still sit in a car motionless, and they lose life from the anxiety of their haste. Their work begins and ends at the same hour, and the tasks completed will be the same. Worse yet, nothing kills a body quite like stress. Their intense accelerations further waste higher amounts of fuel, which they must pay.

They are not gaining time, they’re losing it.

They are still white rabbits in the end, rushing for a date, and still therefore slaves to the red queen.

One of the ultimately ironies in life is that those who rush tend to waste the largest amounts of life.