19 Sep Instantaneous Transportation
I took Ariel and Shya to Newark Airport one morning so they could catch a flight. On our way there, Ariel was sitting in the front seat of my Prius and Shya was sitting in the back. Suddenly I heard Shya’s voice from over my shoulder.
“Lenore, why is your speedometer showing kilometers instead of miles per hour?”
“Oh,” I replied, “When my mechanic fixed my car he made that change and I have to bring it back to him to change it back.”
“It should be simple,” Shya said. “Ariel, why don’t you get out the manual for the car? Lenore, you just drive, we’ll figure it out.”
Within a few short minutes, Ariel found the answer on page 184 of the manual: “To change from mph to kilometers or back again, push this button.” The manual included a picture of a button just to the right of my steering wheel. Once we knew where to look, it was easy to see. Ariel depressed the button and voilà, my car was once again showing miles instead of kilometers.
Immediately I thought, Why didn’t I know this already? Why didn’t my mechanic tell me when I asked him? I need a new mechanic.
I voiced my thoughts aloud.
“No,” Shya said. “You don’t need a new mechanic, you just need not to draw conclusions. Sometimes things are simply easy if you just look. But if you assume they’re difficult, you never actually see what’s right in front of you.”
I have had my Prius for three years and I didn’t know that button existed. With a touch of a finger, we had “Instantaneous Transportation” in miles per hour rather than kilometers. What a great metaphor. It seems that options are often right in front of me, and I don’t see them until I do…and including friends can make it easy.
Ain’t life grand?
Amazing. Maybe I should read my manual.
WoW, yes!
How often do I think something is difficult, can only be done with some specific training, takes too much time… thanks for reminding me of the grace in simply looking (instead of assuming)