how unmannerly....

it's already promising to be a looooong week...but there's no excuse for poor manners...or bad habits (as i become more and more aware of mine).

things i need to work on:

1) less rushing headlong into things.
when i got out of the subway this morning, a white shuttle was departing at that exact moment across the street. of course i ran straight for it like a madwoman, dodging an oncoming middle-aged man in my path, and triumphantly flinging open the door, only to be met by the blank stares of little kids in pastel-colored backpacks.

pause and reflect. if i had been a little more caffeinated (and a little less crazed), it might have sunk in that the middle-aged man had just hugged his daughter (the one with the purple backpack) before putting her on the shuttle to school. while i am thinking about this, about two seconds later, a white shuttle comes along, this time filled with adults.

2) going with the flow (and not disrupting it).
out at brunch the other day, my friend got busy apologizing to her friend for interrupting her, saying, "i have a bad habit of interrupting...." meanwhile i was hitting her on the shoulder and saying, "i do too!" as if i needed instant confirmation.

3) more meditation...on the sound of one hand clapping.
my commute has morphed from the beautiful simplicity of the f train into 3 trains and a 10 passenger van (like a 3 headed monster...or is it a 13 headed monster?). but let's focus instead on the *shiny*new*clean* surroundings, abundant sunlight streaming through the windows, the partial view of the tree (never mind the sprawling campus-sized parking lot behind it), astounding lunch prices (less than $8 for a sandwich?!), and the fact that as of now, it is no longer monday. which means i have survived my first full day in the garden state.

"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day."
--E.B. White