Last Friday I was supposed to fly home for my cousin's wedding. After my usual debaucherous Thursday night, I got up just in time to hop in my friend's car and speed my way to Dulles. I arrived at the ticket counter just in time -- for the ticket agent to tell me that my flight was out of National.
After a mild temper tantrum and subsequent breakdown, I accepted their offer to put me on an early flight the next day. I returned to campus with my tail between my legs. I hate missing flights. Fortunately, I was in no rush to return to my Midwest home, and I also like to think that perhaps there was a reason I missed that flight. Perhaps every missed train, plane or automobile, every missed class, meeting or opportunity somehow opens new avenues for us to experience, when we originally thought our options had been limited.
I want to begin by saying that I hate hypothetical questions. Let me reiterate that. I LOATHE and DETEST hypothetical questions. I think the game "Would You Rather" is possibly the most incredibly inane pasttime ever invented, and I have a full understanding of what the Canadian sport curling entails. So thinking about fate directing our life seems to make the idea of missing flights somewhat more tolerable. Deciding that everything happens for a specific reason rather than dwelling on what might have been is my preferred modus operandi.
What I think is more fun and also more psychologically healthy is to think of what you wouldn't have experienced if you had made the flight. In the case of classes or meetings you probably would have just lost the time that you spent sleeping in, but in a situation such as last week I got to experience a little bit more.
Even though they had scheduled me for an early morning flight and I had booked an even earlier Super Shuttle, I still thought it would be a good idea to go out. My friends and I decided to go to our new favorite bar downtown. The music is great, the people are hot and you don't constantly run into someone you don't want to see. It is the perfect atmosphere for an evening out.
All that aside, there were a few interesting things that happened that made it worth the groggy day that followed. First, I was confused for a contestant from "So You Think You Can Dance" and had to listen to a five-minute speech as a stranger gushed about how much his boyfriend and he loved me. What normally would have just been a simple case of misunderstanding was made all the more humorous due to the fact that my brother-in-law had spent several minutes two weeks ago trying to convince me of the similarities between me and said dancer, despite my objection. Now I was excited that I had a story to share with my family, an emotion I had lacked earlier that day.
On a somewhat more negative note, because of my straight girlfriend's persistent flirting, I found out my favorite new bartender is in fact straight, a difficult, but necessary, fact to accept.
These might sound like trivial things, and the truth is they are. They aren't anything more than what is usually shared over brunch as last night's fodder. But they serve as a greater example of the optimistic attitude I am trying to model for you. It's easy to dwell on the thought that perhaps if I had met the cute flight attendant earlier in London, than maybe we might still be together. If I had not gone to Rome then maybe my ex would not have dropped out of school. And if I hadn't done, gone and said about a million things then maybe just about everything would be different right now.
But who the hell cares? As far as I can tell, there are no time machines that allow us to go back and change our decisions. All we can do is learn from every experience. I may have missed a night with my family but I now have a new celebrity to impersonate and a bartender to cross off my list. I might have left people behind, but it was for the benefit of amazing experiences here and abroad.
So don't waste your time wondering, "What if?" or even asking, "Why?" Don't try to look back and analyze what you have done -- unless it is to appreciate the opportunities you were afforded.
