Several years ago, I bought myself a brand new pair of running shoes.
They looked comfy and sturdy enough, and I thought that they’d do the trick. I even liked the orange trim which I thought added a glint of something different.
A ‘Joie de Vivre’ of sorts.
You see, for a decade or two, the colour orange had been given a bad rap.
People rarely wore orange anymore.
Anyway…
I didn’t give my choice of sneaker apparel any further thought until a co-worker friend of mine made a comment as she walk by me one morning as she arrived for her day shift.
Staring at my feet as she walked past she said:
“What’s with the orange shoes?”
Then as she walked away, she added…
“Must be some mid-life crisis!”
Hmm…
Did I reply with a nasty or hurtful comeback?
No.
Did I show the least bit or anger?
No.
Instead, I took it all in stride.
There is a saying that my father taught me, and I invoked it as I turned the other cheek:
“The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they do grind.”
Now, I am very pleased to tell you that this story has a very happy ending. (At least for me it does, as I cannot speak for my anti-orange co-worker.)
Three months later, as I am walking to my car after a long shift at work I observe Ms. “Must Be Mid-Life Crisis” pulling into work.
And look, she is driving a brand new S.U.V.
Make that a brand new ORANGE S.U.V.
And in the distance, I could hear the noise of the god’s mills beautifully grinding away.
It had a groove and great “Mid-life Crisis” kinda beat.
And I could even dance to it!
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