Today's MOSTLY TRUE SHORT STORY: Karmic Lessons

F LoBuono

It had been a relatively easy night at work - nothing blew up, no mass shootings were reported, and, for a change, there were hardly any political shenanigans, either. In the news business, that's the equivalent of watching paint dry.

I rapped up my shift at midnight and headed for home. Since it was a Friday in NYC, the City That Never Sleeps, I knew the roads would still be fairly busy. And, it was raining lightly, too - bound to slow things down even more. No matter. I was mentally prepared. All I needed to do was get home.

So, as I headed up the West Side Highway I was surprised to find the traffic thin AND moving at a rapid pace. At that rate, I'd be home in no time. Well, that lasted about 5 minutes or until I hit 125th St.! Suddenly, a wall of legendary NYC traffic brought me to a screeching halt. Something was obviously wrong. I tuned in my radio for a traffic report and found the culprit: an accident at 145th St. was closing the 2 right lanes. Damn - and, I was making such great time!

Now, I do my absolute best to be ZEN about NY City traffic. You have to be. It is an unpredictable monster that can rear its ugly head at any time or place. Even the overnight hours are no protection as that's when they do most of the construction. You just HAVE to learn to live with it. And, I have - mostly.

So, after about 10 minutes of inching along, I felt my blood pressure start to rise. I thought to myself:

Someone just HAD to screw this up, didn't they? I bet that they weren't paying attention and ass-ended someone.

Or, they must have been texting, etc., etc.

Didn't they KNOW that I wanted a hassle free ride home?!

And, just because they're pissing me off, when I finally reach them, I'm going to let them know exactly how much!!

After another 5 minutes or so of inching along, I was finally nearing the wreck when I noticed that it was indeed just a fender bender - one car was following too closely and had rear-ended another. It was not serious but just enough to totally screw things up. As I approached the vehicles, I rolled down my passenger window so that I could hurl a witty epithet like "nice move, Exlax" or some other clever appellation. And, I did!

I passed the wreckage, the road opened and I made it home without further incident - almost. About 2 or 3 blocks from my home, the Engine Warning Light suddenly flashed on my dashboard and the car began to buck. It's an old problem that resurfaces from time to time - an oil sensor switch malfunctions causing the car to run rough. However, I haven't had an issue with it for months.

So, why NOW?

Well, it made me think - perhaps the fact that I was so petty when it came to that accident I encountered earlier, it might have had some connection to the issue with my car. Nothing in the world happens in a vacuum - nothing. It is often called the law of KARMA, i.e. what goes around comes around. This is an oversimplification but will suffice for our purposes. In my mind, because I had put so much negative energy around a mere 15 minute inconvenience, I was rewarded with a car issue of my own. And, I do mean REWARDED. Even though the fact that I am having car problems will cost me some money, I should still see it as a gift of sorts because it made me THINK and FEEL: how foolish was I to spend even a minute being pissed off about something so minor and insignificant. And, if that wasn't enough, I wished ill to someone I didn't even know and were having enough troubles all on their own without any encouragement from me.

To be honest, in fact, the more I think about it, the more embarrassed I am for having acted that way in the first place. However, there IS good that can come from it. The whole thing made me aware that I have to BE MORE AWARE  - that negative emotions produce negative results. And, the best part is that I can change - WE can change. And, when we do, we make the world a better place.

EPILOGUE: I have an appointment with my mechanic to address the issue on Monday. Shouldn't cost me more that $100 or so. Thank god, for small favors!!