We have all had days where it appears we are headed towards an impasse—a gridlock, a snag– that could potentially deter us from a day of ease. We have to find ingenious ways to turn that impasse into an overpass in order to glide right over it. My mother and I once experienced an impasse sort of a day that will remain in our memory banks.
This particular day ended in the discovery of unexpected new acquaintances, along with a great deal of comic relief and accompanying laughter. That is the great return. We had an appointment at a location in a city (that will remain nameless) with which we were unfamiliar. I instinctively used a common online map service for detailed instructions to our exact destination. It had “steered” me correctly in the past. However, upon typing in the exact address, I was disenchanted to discover that it would only take me to within .5 miles of the address. It essentially said that they had done their part and the rest was up to me. It felt more like Map-Jest. Soooo….on the day of the trip, I told my mother that we were just going to have to “wing it” the final .5 miles. I felt certain it would still be quite easy since it was a mere stone’s throw—no problem for this traveling duo—or so we thought.
Soooo…..We headed off on our journey and reached the exact point where Map-Jest had stranded us within the .5 spitting distance. We stopped at two gas stations and no one had heard of the mystery street. We then proceeded through a myriad of loops and curves, twisting one way streets and we ultimately found ourselves lost on a country road. We were at an impasse—hence the term. We twisted and turned a bit more and finally saw an official looking building. We decided to try our luck in a different type of setting (without gas pumps.)
As we pulled in the parking lot, my mother noticed the name on the sign. She laughingly said, “Why it’s the Department of Transportation! What are the chances of that? Surely, they’re bound to know where this road is!” It ignited an explosion of ridiculous laughter from us both. My mother was the first to regain her sense of composure and bravely made her way inside and left me still in hysterics in the car. I could see her through the window surrounded by four people, as they were laughing and talking. Were they “transporting” her to a social gathering? When she finally emerged from the “party,” she told me that she had met the nicest people who were so willing to help. They, however, had never heard of the road either. They even printed out a color copy of directions that, of course, once again, only gave within .5 miles of how to get to our destination. Were we in some sort of abstract dimension we wondered? They did put us on the right track to retrace our steps, but we still had to approach that .5 mystery zone.
Then a miracle happened in the form of a lady sitting in her car across from us. In utter desperation, my mother did the sign language that traveling fools use. It’s the “please roll your window down hand motion.” Our composure was lost once again and replaced by laughter. My mother asked her if she knew where the top-secret road might be. She said, “Why yes, honey, you just turn right at this street, go a piece (that means two trees past the dead possum) and it will be right there.” Ahhhh… the most beautiful words ever for two lost wandering laughing nomads. We found our destination at long last.
In conclusion, we will all have impasse days in our lives. But many times we can turn them into overpasses. The best survival tactic is the power of endorphin-releasing laughter. If all of us would stay within a .5 second zone of being on the verge of the possibility of laughing pleasure, we would dilute the impasse. The value of humor is unsurpassed. Don’t forget to take along some good company to double the laughing pleasure. Hunter Darden-personalized copies of my books my be ordered by scrolling to the top of this page and clicking “Order Personalized Books” or email me at hunterdarden@gmail.com.
