A few weeks ago my daughters and I were headed to a block party at Dabls Bead Gallery. I stopped at the store around the corner from my house in route to the party and parked in the parking lot. I exited the store and proceeded to my car. As I pulled out of my parking space there was a brother in a caravan blocking the exit. For some reason my horn wouldn't blow in my car as I had sat there for almost 3 to 4 minutes waiting on him to pull off. Well I didn't feel like waiting any longer so I made a decision. A poor decision but a decision never the less. I decided to drive around this man, at night and could not judge how steep the curb was. Well it was quite steep as I drove down said curve and heard a loud scrap and pop to which Messiah, my elder daughter looked at me wide-eyed. For some reason I asked her, "Was that my car?" fully knowing damn well that it was. I drove a little further when I heard someones exhaust pipe dragging from their car making loud and embarrassing noises. I pulled over to jam it up so that I could drive back home since I didnt have string or a hanger in my car. A Wayne State police officer pulled over to make sure that no one would crush my skull as I manage to jam the pipe so we could drive home. Messiah and I were laughing at my folly but Chinaza was in the back seat scared and crying. We finally made it home where I tied up the exhaust with a hanger and drove right up to Dabls to hang out!
The moral of this story is that my impatience scared my children, showed them a bad example in judgment, embarrassed me, made me late for Dabls and cost me $200. If I had been patient I would have showed my children how to be calm in adversity, not embarrassed myself, i can never be late for Dabls and I would have my $200 in my pocket.
Anyone who knows me personally can tell you that I am a thousand times better than I use to be and still have room to grow apparently.
Patience and calm are virtues, just don't get them confused with laziness or stagnation.
Ase' O
