So today's life lesson started at 7:30am when my train was 3mins early meaning I missed it. I got to work half an hour late because of this. Then my M&S lunch had a maggot in it. Then the internet at work wasn't working, and neither were my phones. Then my train home was delayed. I thought I'd had the day from hell.
While everyone was huffing and puffing and complaining about the delay (including me), the driver made an announcement. "I'm very sorry you'll all be late home tonight...but please, spare a thought for the father, the son, the brother, and the friend...who won't be going home at all tonight." The whole carriage went quiet, and it put everything into perspective. No matter what 'bad' stuff happens, it's not important, in a few days it'll be forgotten about, and I'm so lucky I get to start a new day afresh tomorrow.
The thing is, when you've been commuting for a while and your train is delayed because of 'someone on the tracks' at least once a month, you forget about the person who's on those tracks, and it takes that small realization that they're an actual person, and not just an imaginary person, who unlike you, won't be going home at all, to snap you out of your self-obsessed world and see the bigger picture. A family have lost a loved one. You are late home, you'll forget about it soon. They won't.
The first time there was someone on the tracks when I first started commuting over a year ago, I was really upset. I remember having actual tears in my eyes thinking about that poor person. And then after the third or fourth, I became numb to it, irritated by it, annoyed that this unknown person had made me late getting home after a long day at work. Almost every commuter thinks the same, because we're selfish and all we care about is getting to our destination as fast as possible.
So thank you to that driver tonight, for bringing me back to reality and for making me feel so guilty about my own self-obsessed thoughts. I hope I never feel irritated by a person losing their life ever again, and I'll do everything I can to not be so selfish in future.
So tonight's lesson? Be thankful for everything you have. I'm grateful I commute, and that sometimes I'm late home...because despite it being irritating and exhausting, it means I'm lucky enough to have a job. And that is something to be very thankful for.
