Just Look the Other Way

Yesterday I was taking the trains home from my meetings in Ortigas, and taking my usual, no-brainer route. It involved taking the cab to Shangri-la Mall, hoping on the MRT (and using my equally no-brainer G-Pass--you should get one if you regularly take the train), getting off at Taft station and taking the LRT (always using the female coaches only), and walking or taking a pedicab to my condo.

When I arrived at the Taft MRT station, though, it was a HORROR to see a long queue on the exit counters! Hundreds of people were squeezing their way through two or three turnstiles, and you had a choice of getting stepped on, getting elbowed out, getting groped where you didn't want anyone's hands on, or getting pickpocketed. I obviously did not want to join in the sweat-sharing fest, as I had just bagged a dream gig--more on this in Via Filipina--and wanted to maintain my poise and my stylish look (even I was taking the unstylish route home).

In my moment of confusion and desperation, I looked over to the left set of exit counters... and there they were, free, empty, and practically calling out to me with their open arms. With a smug smile on my face, I stepped back from the mob, stepped a little to my left, and sauntered onto the exit which I had all to myself. I could not believe it--hundreds of people pushing and jostling their way into the right exit counters, totally forgetting that you could exit from two sides of the MRT station.

And that's how it is with us and life, sometimes. We're too focused on "the usual route" or on doing things "the way it's always been done" that we forget about the multitude of options that exist around us. We stress over the office's Net connection being down when the nearest Net cafe is just a quick stroll down the street. We curse the heavy traffic on the main thoroughfares when the side streets often offer a quicker way home. We cry over a fool of an ex-lover and let who could potentially be The One get away.

We stress over so many things, make so many excuses for ourselves and for other people... when, sometimes, all it takes to get things done, to meet the love of our life, or to discover our true path... is to swivel our stubborn heads to the other side, and look the other way.