Air Is Free

Oy vey, I'm becoming such an airhead. Tired out from day's long-winded adventure (see my previous post) I got a late start preparing for class, including packing a lunch and my books.

After riding the rails and schlepping my bike, I arrived at my stop around 4:30 pm, about an hour and a half before class starts, and locked my bike up outside. I took one last look - I figured with such a flimsy cable lock, I'd be out of a bike in no time, but I was also out of options. I had to get to school and this was the closest stop for me and my carpool buddy, who was already on campus. I bit my lip and thought, oh well, G-d is the Boss.

Turns out, class was cancelled, and the notification went out via email when I wasn't anywhere near a computer. Deja vu!

So there I was, sitting and schmoozing over a cup of coffee until class time, and then leisurely strolling to the building just in time to smell a classmate's dinner warming up. Met another classmate when I got to the door, and we all looked at the posted sign saying class cancelled.

Another dear friend, without access to the internet at work, came to class a little early and went home thinking I had forgotten to tell her. When I got her on the phone, I explained how her airhead friend (that would be me) was at that moment sitting outside of class wondering how this could happen twice in one week. Suddenly, it all seemed kinda funny.

When I got dropped off at the subway, I couldn't believe my eyes: my bike was still there. As I was unlocking it, a local came up behind me and told me I need a better chain for my bike. To illustrate, he picked up the skinny cable and demonstrated how one little snip and that bike would be gone.

I asked him how someone would risk going to jail over such a crummy bike, and his answer was remarkable: someone with nothing sees the worth in having something. I got the feeling he was talking about himself, and I just took the bike and walked away, thanking him for keeping an eye on it.

Thank you G-d for keeping an eye on me.