Last Friday night I had a date with my friends to see the traveling production of the Broadway smash Rent. We had decided earlier in the week that we would all meet in front of the theatre twenty minutes before the show began since each of us was coming from a different part of town. I was the closest to the theatre and therefore had the most time to tinker with my evening's ensemble -- after much debate about which tie to wear, I headed out the door with plenty of time to spare.
Life was good, my hair was perfectly coiffed, my shirt was neatly pressed and my teeth were sparkling white. Everything was going as planned until I came to a construction zone. Traffic was at a standstill as three lanes tried, unsuccessfully, merging into one. As time ticked by and my crisp shirt wilted I became more and more frustrated. Was it really necessary to close off two lanes when only one was being worked on? It seemed unlikely and I was certain the world was out to get me personally.
I finally arrived fifteen minutes late and with no friends to greet me. As I stood in the back of theatre cursing my friends and unable to see act one, I wondered if merging lives was like merging traffic -- slow and not necessarily fruitful. When lives converge there are bound to be times when things don't go as planned; when this happens, should we call it quits and watch the world pass us by, or do we wait out the first act and hope the second is stellar? Should we consider these bumps in the road as mere frustrations or as signposts for future improvements? When conflicts arise, do we go with the flow, or exit stage right?
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