imagine all the people

I was sitting at my little counter today just staring off into space and time, thinking about nothing in particular and feeling nothing in particular, when something caught my attention.

A short distance from my office is an overpass, and I noticed a police car moving slowly with its lights on. There was a hearse following behind, and, for some reason only known to my subconscious, I started counting the cars between the hearse and the tailing police escort.

It was a short count.

There were five cars in the procession. There was no limousine, no fancy funeral home car, just the hearse and five vehicles belonging to friends and family.

After fielding calls from people "absolutely desperate" to get their refund back, people willing to risk hefty fines and possible jail time because they insist on "borrowing" someone else's kids so they can get certain tax credits, that sad little procession reminded me that life is too short, too precious, too full of other pains for me to worry about "small stuff."

So the Mom-mobile needs new tires up front? It'll be all right. The engine light keeps popping up on Mister's car. It's not overheating and the oil light is not on, so just keep smiling.

It's a cruel thing, is life. One day at a time, that's all we should ever need. Nobody is more important than anyone else, but neither is anyone less important. If you have nothing else, then just smile and wave, because no one can take that away.