Some
sounds make us pause and reflect. Growing up, I often heard a train’s whistle
in the wee hours of the night. It always had a melancholy, Midnight-Train-to-Georgia
feeling, echoing a traveler’s reluctant good-bye. Earlier this week, I heard the
train whistle from the neighborhood station and got that melancholy feeling
again. As if there aren’t enough sounds here, there’s this:
We spend tons
of time and money trying to understand what’s happening in other places,
especially in space. Most alien movies feature space creatures bent on destroying
us and taking over Earth. While Hollywood urges us locate and crush hostile outer
space creatures, scientists continue looking skyward, wondering if we’re all alone.
Do you think we’re alone in the universe?
You haven’t been annoyed
until you’ve had to stop on a particular road in our town. See, we have a slew
of railroad tracks stretching across our community, but there’s one special track
spot you want to avoid. Here’s what happens: You’re zipping along on a sunny
summer day with the car windows rolled down. Suddenly, you hear the ding-ding of
the warning bell and see the red flashing lights signaling an oncoming train.
Of course, you stop the car as the train rumbles down the track. Lo and behold,
it’s not any ole train. No, it’s a freight train; the kind of train that
transports massive boxes of cereal, soaps, and soup. You shrug and figure you
won’t be there long. Wrong!
The train will slowly
lumber by while vehicles line up behind you. When the train pauses, you sigh and
wonder how much longer you’ll be there. You wait and wait and wait. About the
time you consider making a U-turn, the train begins moving again—only it goes backwards, retracing its tracks. And so,
you wait and watch the railroad cars you just saw heading right, go left as
they lumber back in the opposite direction.
Unfortunately, I’ve
lived through that train crossing at least three times. In fact, to my horror, we
approached it this week. The bell rang, the lights flashed, and if the
conductor had looked my way, he would have spotted me doing the famous Home Alone face. But, this time was different because within a minute the freight
train was gone. Annoying, but not the usual horrifying time. Sometimes, we just
have to grin and bear it. Speaking of bearing it, I betcha can’t watch this entire
video:
https://youtu.be/1V6N6kh4oOQ
Are you screaming yet? Don’t
buy a house in that community. When you’re especially annoyed, what keeps you
from resorting to the Home Alone face?
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I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. Why would anyone say that? It
seems the saying became popular in the 1920s when people use it to indicate
unexpected surprise, the way we might say, “Amazing, imagine that!” Here’s a
better explanation of being a monkey’s uncle. English is peppered with idioms that make no
literal sense. I can imagine the confusion these sayings cause for anyone
learning to speak English and seeing this video wouldn’t help. Take a look:
I wonder how railway management came up with that idea. Did
you catch the seriousness of the gentleman surrounding Mr. Miyan?I love the way no one seemed shocked by him.
It reminded me of New York City where you can witness all sorts of interesting
sights.The scene may look odd, but Mr. Miyan
claims his method works. What’s the most unbelievable thing you‘ve heard, and
realized later that it made perfect sense?
When’s
the last time you played London Bridge is Falling Down? It’s the children’s singing
game(make the song a ringtone?) where two kids hold hands to form a “bridge”
while the rest of the group files under the pair’s swinging arms. At a certain
point the arms lower to lock one unsuspecting “prisoner” in. Once the prisoner
is released, the game starts over.
Part
of this scenario plays out every day on Main St. In our town, we’re warned of
an approaching train by a cute, blinking, digital train picture at the railroad
crossing. The problem is it blinks for quite a while before finally it stops, and
then you know 1.) a train is close and 2.) the long, red arms of the railroad
crossing will come down to lock you on the tracks, if you’re in the wrong spot.
Oh sure, you can maneuver around the arms, if the fear of being flattened
doesn’t muddle your thinking. Here’s another situation that might send you into
a panic:
There’s
nothing like the feeling of being trapped, whether it’s on railroad tracks, in
an elevator, or in a hairy life situation. When we use the right resources, we
can manage through most circumstances. One day we might look back at the
experience and find a useful life lesson, along with some wisdom to pass on.
How do you deal with situations that cause you to feel trapped?
