Wrenched

So here's the deal, I don't exactly have a precise image or idea of god, but it's days like today that help me realize that there's something out there.

I hit up the Bike shop around the corner from my house this morning on my way to work. I wasn't too excited about having to buy a new wheel, so I was already kinda in a mood.

I'm riding from Berkeley to MacArthur Bart, you know, some excercise. By the time I get to Oakland, my rear wheel is rubbing up against the rear fork!

Immediate resentment. Those c*********s! They didn't tighten the rear wheel enough! Then thoughts of what I'm gonna say when I call them to give 'em a piece of my mind. You know, what are they gonna give me for free? I want my money back! Don't they know who I think I am?!

So I hit up a couple convenience stores to ask if they have wrenches. Nobody's got one. How inconvenient! So as I'm stewing in my fury, I had a realization. I hate feeling this way. This anger shit's for the birds.

I look toward the sky and say aloud: "God, or whatever's out there, give me a new angle on this thing. This isn't who I wanna be."

As I'm standing on Sacramento street, my situation hopeless, I light a smoke. I look to my right and there's Hispanic fellow getting out of his pickup. No way, right?

I approach him and as I'm asking him for help, pointing to my bicycle, he hands me the tool he already had in his hand. An adjustable wrench.

A few minutes later as I'm riding off on my merry way, the question comes to me: "Does god provide me with tools to make my life easier when I seek him/her/it/them?"


- Eric Was Here -