Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Lessons Learned

I hate to lose things. Well I'm sure everyone does but when I lose my belongings, I go a little manic. On the outside, I am calm but inside I am extremely uneasy.

Last night my MP3 player fell in the subway tracks while I was on my way home from work. I was reaching into my bag and I pulled it out by the headphones but then it got stuck in the bag and the headphones were still in my hand but my MP3 player fell out, slid and paused right at the edge while me and 3 fellas were yelling out "NO, NO, NO" but then it fell over.

Immediately after peering over the edge of the platform I'm hoping someone will get it for me but no one does. And then I’m thinking of heading to Circuit City for the 8gig that I had my eye on. I know my guy would have a fit since he's the one who bought this one for me and when I mentioned the 8gig the other day he got in my butt because my 2gig is only 6 months old and I also have a digital camera and I just bought a new cell phone so I don't need the 8 gig. I watched my MP3 in the tracks and it looked unharmed and then I look up to see an oncoming train approach...

I waited until the train passed to make sure that the device was safe and it was. It was out of eye shot and the wind from the train didn’t throw it on the tracks. I didn't want anyone else to see it and get it while I went upstairs to tell the token booth clerk so she could call someone to retrieve it. I was informed that it would be an hour wait. I took a seat and waited. 6 minutes later I went back downstairs to see if the device was still in the tracks because I am paranoid. It was still there but there was a little dude down there with a cup, some keys in the cup and the cup tied to a string trying to get my MP3 player out the tracks!!! I calmly tell him to step off and after 15 minutes of trying to get his hands on my device, he finally leaves and he only stopped because a train was coming. He got on the train and I didn't leave the platform again.

Long story not so long, the men come in less than a hour, 45 seconds after that I have my device and 5 minutes later I am heading back on the train to my home.

Two years ago this same thing happened to me. Then it was my new cell phone that fell in the tracks but an adventurous man dived down and got it for me. I gave him my last 2 bucks and he gladly accepted it. But then I realized that if this same thing keeps happening to me, there is a lesson to be learned.

First off, I need to stop standing anywhere near the edge of the platform (even though my MP3 player really slid about 2 feet away from me) when I am reaching for my electronics out of my bag.

Secondly, I need to be grateful for what I have. I love and would feel naked and empty without my MP3 player especially on my many subway rides. I was about to listen to Erykah Badu's "Me" and Solange's "I Decided" before it fell. When you are grateful for what you have, you will do anything to preserve and protect it.

Thirdly, I had the opportunity to journal, which I haven't consistently done in so long. I wrote out a “to do” list, I composed this entry and listed the 10 things I'm grateful for. So I need to take more time to do the things that bring balance to my day.

What was even weirder was when I turned on the device to see if it worked and the song I had been listening to on my morning commute popped up. It was Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without You”.

My Grateful List
Grateful for my MP3 player, all 2gigs of it!
Strangers who help in the time of need
My journal – it’s always with me
5 senses
Sex & creatively sexual thoughts
An active imagination
Calmness in the midst of my mania
I’m alive & healthy
A bath & the bed when I get home
Chocolate

5 comments:

ChpterReads said...

I had that happen to my cell phone (my cell has been in many wars lately) It was in my handbag, I was taking out my mp3 player and it fell out and bounced (yes bounced) onto the tracks.

Being the drama queen that I am, I automatically scream and jump up and down like a child at a candy store getting NO's from her Mommy. I find one of those guys in Orange Vests and tell him of my dilemma and he tells me to go and knock on a door and the conductor will try.

I cannot live without my cell, it is my life. Add to that I journal in my cell so if anyone finds it they will have an eye full, but anywho I find the conductor and he waits for the next train to come. As it gets closer to where my phone had fallen he climbs down and retrieves it for me. No scratches on it and its in perfect condition.

Thank God for Helpful people and sometimes competent Train engineers.

Love your Grateful list

Just Kel said...

Liryc... see you here with me Sister! My MP3 player is a lifeline, one of my many. Yes I am so grateful for helpful people, such a blessing.

Monique said...

I'm with you! If I loss my iPod (which I thought I did the other day) or my digital camera, I would literally be depressed for weeks. I can't live without those two.

Just Kel said...

Monique... I would be out of sorts without my phone as well as the MP3. Makes me wonder what I did before these wonderful creations existed.

Anonymous said...

I would be out of sorts without my Phone as well as the Mp3.