« March 25, 2005 | Main | March 27, 2005 »

March 26, 2005

there's no money-back guarantee on future happiness

"Why are you so hard on yourself?" he asked me. We were sitting on the edge of a sea of glass and chrome in the only two comfy chairs in the room. Across the New Haven green I could see that the setting sun was turning the buildings orange. I thought how pretty the green would look if it was snowing, and said so. "Give yourself a break," he said.

If you're crossing the street against the light and a car runs you down, it's your fault but it's the driver's fault, too. Maybe he didn't pay attention and didn't see you. Maybe he was driving too fast. Maybe he thought you'd jump. But then if after you recover from your injuries--or maybe you're still limping a bit, maybe walking with a cane--you not only cross against the light again but stand facing the oncoming traffic trying to stare down the cars and you get run down... well, I guess that's your fault. It's not like you didn't know what could happen; you just didn't want to believe that you knew. And the thing is, you'd do it again if they'd only let you back out on the street.

Posted by JudyLa at 06:00 AM | Comments (0)