You know how some days seem to have a mind of their own and Murphy’s law is given the credit? Whatever can go wrong will go wrong.
Today was a day like that for me. I had a jury duty summons for this morning and woke up extra early to be able to get to court on time.
I was hoping that I would be able to work in the afternoon. A fellow coworker had had a death in the family and I had been asked to see her patients. Both of them were ones which could be seen in the afternoon.
As I was entering the freeway I noticed my dashboard display was indicating I had a problem with tire pressure. I debated the folly of ignoring it but then I realized I was pretty close to Discount Tire. If I exited the freeway at the next exit I could reach the store in short order.
I got to Discount Tire at 7:55 am. I told them when they opened that I was supposed to be at jury duty at 8:30 am. They said they could take care of me in 10-15 minutes. It took 30 minutes but I was hoping I would still be allowed to fulfill my jury duty.
I parked in the parking lot where the shuttle is supposed to pick up jurors and I saw no shuttle. So I started walking, only to see a bridge ahead with no sidewalk. I looked closer though and saw a sidewalk which led up to the start of the bridge and noted that I could walk under the bridge through some grass. Then I saw some stairs which could take me back up to the street level.
I finally entered the city limits of Fort Worth and after a bit of wandering, found the court building. I got to the jury summons room only to find out I was too late. I would have to come back in October.
I asked the lady where to find the shuttle because I had a horrible sinus headache and didn’t want to walk back to my car. She told me and I hopped on the shuttle to return to my car. Then I called work and told them that I could take those two visits this afternoon.
Throughout this whole morning I didn’t cuss, or get angry. I knew that God was rearranging my schedule and I was just along for the ride.
Instead of getting angry I was thankful. Thankful that I noticed I had a flat tire so close to Discount Tire. Thankful that it happened when I was going to jury duty and not something more important like work. I thanked God that I had chosen comfortable shoes to walk in, because I had no idea early in the morning that I had a long walk ahead. I was thankful that I could fill in for another nurse when she needed to take off of work.
Life is not always what we expect but it is always what we make of it.