Meditate or Medicate

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

James Baldwin

I don't smoke pot.

I don't drink.

I don't sedate myself with food and the only women I pick up lately use walkers and have been collecting social security checks for at least two decades.

So what do I do when the stress starts to get to me?

What stress you may be asking.

The daily stresses of life.

Let me paint a picture for you.

I leave the house and drive less than 2 miles before encountering the inevitable congestion at the bottleneck on Rt. 4 where the road ,the main artery to the George Washington Bridge, narrows to 2 lanes.Somehow in 2019 the governing authorities who manage this road still operates as if we were living in the 1950's and has not made improvements.

More remarkably is that on a daily basis,the same people who travel this route everyday have not learned how to merge in a civilized manner.

Two miles down the road,the bridge traffic begins to back up and come to a stand still. On a good day, I can sneak up to my exit however the good days are few and far between.

Once on the side streets, I am greeted by detours,flashing lights,construction cones, and service vehicles.

Rarely is it a direct path to the center where my bus is parked.

All of this takes place before I set out to pick up passenger 1.

Did I mention that at each of these junctures, the drivers I encounter are either oblivious to common road courtesies or just outright aggressive?

All of this serves as a platform for the stresses of the day to build upon.

Throughout the day,as I encounter passengers,patrons and compatriots there is the unrelenting compounding of stresses, nothing huge.

More like a death by 1000 cuts.

It's what makes people snap.

I believe the accepted term is going postal.

Maybe Harry Chapin had it right.

Maybe I should relax....just ride in my taxi....taking tips and getting stoned!