The Unbroken World

I, like most everyone on all sides of the political/ cultural spectrum, spend a lot of time thinking about, writing about, talking about, what’s wrong with this world. But it’s a good exercise for us all to pause and spend a little time thinking about what’s right. What works and is mostly dependable. 

 

For example, yesterday I woke up in a hotel room where the water in the sink ran, the water in the shower was hot, the lights came on and off as needed and the wi-fi allowed me to write an e-mail or check the weather. I got dressed in clothes that were neither ragged nor torn and the perfect warmth for the outside temperature. 

 

I walked to a breakfast place that offered the food I needed and a cup of coffee to help with jet lag. They wouldn’t take my cash money, but my credit card worked just fine. I walked to the school where I was to teach with help from my phone’s GPS and when there was a moment or two of confusion (my fault), I asked actual people on the street for help with directions and they happily gave it to me. 

 

The people I expected to greet me at the school showed up and greeted me at the school. The 20 people who has signed up for the workshop all arrived. The instruments I needed were all in place and the Bluetooth connection to the sound system worked when I needed it. Everyone joyfully participated in the class as I expected they would and when I spoke strongly and clearly about difficult subjects like racism, misogyny and unchecked capitalism, no one shouted me down or beat me up or called the police to come cart me away. There was a sink in the bathroom with a stuck faucet that kept water running, but with a little manipulation with a fork, two of us managed to kind of fix it for the moment. 

 

My friend who was sick yesterday and couldn’t join me for that workshop was better today and was able to come to the afternoon workshop. People bought almost all the books I had brought from home and when they didn’t have the cash for them, were able to pay me through Paypal. 

 

Going out to dinner with my friend and her husband, the Oyster card got me both on the bus going and into the London Underground returning home. We were first in line at the pick-up-a-tray-and-choose-your- dinner at Govinda Indian restaurant and felt lucky when we sat down to ate and the line suddenly was up to twenty-people-long. Thinking about dessert after dinner and me mentioning ice cream, my friends’ phone found the perfect gelato place a mere three blocks away and the hazelnut/chocolate scoop on the sugar cone was even better than I hoped for.

 

After a fond farewell and subway ride to Ealing-Broadway Station, I passed a place where I thought I might be able to buy the train ticket to Stansted Airport the next day. Indeed, I could and the helpful man gave me the train timetable (which this morning proved to be 100% reliable) and the ticket (which worked this morning). 

Walking back from the tube stop to the hotel, it started to rain and the umbrella I brought opened up without a problem and kept me dry for the 10-minute walk. The key to my hotel room worked, the bed was still there awaiting me and with the help of my eyeglasses, I was able to read my David Copperfield before dropping off to a well-earned sleep. 

 

Noticing how many people in the Dickens book were so unnecessarily cruel to 10-year-old David, I gave thanks that walking the streets of London, nobody had scowled at me, yelled at me, bumped into me, threatened me, robbed me, beaten me up, pointed a gun at me. Nobody all day screamed at me when they found out I was American (thought they might have had every reason to do so!). On the contrary, the people I asked for help, the baristas, the wait staff, the hotel clerks, the folks in the elevator with me and certainly the beautiful souls in the workshop who so deeply appreciated the joyful world we created together, were without exception friendly, smiling and affable. 

 

In short, the world was wholly functioning, pleasant, delightful— and everything worked. Imagine that!

PS What worked in your world today?