I was holding onto two dog leashes, one in each hand, when I got a phone call from my brother Brent tonight. (I knew it was him right away—he has a very distinct ringtone on my phone that spooked the dogs a little when it started.) I had to juggle things around a bit before I could grab my phone. He then told me he was stuck on the interstate because of a car fire and I found out later that his drive home lasted THREE HOURS LONGER THAN USUAL.
-
I live close to work. Instead of 35-45 minutes, my drive is just over two miles in the suburbs and takes about five minutes. I could walk to work and back several times in the 3:45 it took him to get home tonight.
-
I can avoid major traffic jams. See: short drive to work.
-
I have a fully functional car. It’s never been on fire.
-
2Cellos. Hearing their cover of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” coming from my phone is how I knew Brent was calling. And if you ever hear the song, you’ll know why it spooked the dogs a little.
-
Our dogs can pee quickly before bed. Brent and I were talking on the phone—him stuck in traffic, me making sure the dogs pee—and they finished… he might have moved fifty feet during that time. “Might have” being a very key term here. So the dogs finished doing their business and we went back inside while Brent spent ANOTHER TWO HOURS in traffic. Yeah, definitely grateful that I got inside my house before he got to his.
