Tonight’s Lesson in Gratitude is being offered by my son, Jared Emmanuel. I am grateful to him for sharing this reflection in his unique style and voice.
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Thank god for you, little computer clock. Eleven thirty at night meant it was time to clock out and go home. I knew my roommate and his girlfriend had prepared a great thanksgiving meal. I couldn’t wait to go get it. I changed into my finest Thanksgiving day outfit, said happy Thanksgiving to my coworkers, and headed for the valet garage, where my car wasn’t supposed to be. Key in the ignition, plug in my phone, and….
Oh come on…
START! You’ve gotta be kidding me.
After a bipolar mix of a few obscenities, sweet talking, and commanding my rugged ’99 Blazer to start, I decided that it probably simply wasn’t going to happen. As fate would have it, the fuel pump had failed. No Thanksgiving night celebration with friends for me, it would seem. I decided I would leave my car parked at work overnight and catch a ride from my boss.
The next day I returned to my incapacitated vehicle, hoping someone at work had AAA roadside service. Fortunately, someone did. Greg the tow truck operator whacked my gas tank a few times and instructed me to start my car. Well, if I’d have known that last night…
He informed me that if I turned my car off, it wouldn’t start again, and that I should drive it straight to the mechanic. Not half an hour later, I was pulling into Dan Chin’s auto service (which I’ll have to write my first Yelp review about- he was great) who told me that the fuel pump replacement would cost around $950 bucks. Naturally, I flipped out, and told him there’s no way I can afford that. He was able to shave some of the costs down. I texted my dad, and he confirmed- go for it. It’s not like I had much of a choice anyway. Three days and $889 dollars later, my car, Querida, was returned to me running like normal. What a pain in the ass that is, right?
As I sit in my room, sipping hot cocoa, thawing out from my session on the ice, contemplating the use of the Oxford comma, and listening to my Mountain Man Pandora station (which you should totally listen to if you like folky music) I’m able to look back and see that the past several days have contained several embedded blessings in disguise. I’m also taken back to a year and a half ago, when I started this very same job.
I had moved to Pinole with my mother, and had just stormed out of my old job without a real plan. Although I soon after received the job I have now, I had no money at all. Not like, I had very little, I mean, I literally had absolutely nothing other than the spare coins buried throughout my messy bedroom. My morningly routine before heading into San Francisco for work was turning over tables in my bedroom looking for change that I could use to buy ramen noodle cups. It was either train fare or food for the day.
Had this happened back then, it would have been extremely life altering. My mother and I would be scrambling trying to figure out what to do, or just ditch the car. Fast forward to present day, and all of this is placed comfortably into perspective.
Spending $900 bucks to fix my car in these modern times is a pain in the ass. It’s an irritation, an annoyance, an inconvenience. Something I can complain about to my coworkers. It’s no longer a severe event, it’s not even that big of a deal, in retrospect. I no longer need to scrounge for loose change.
Before this happened, I was about to buy a guitar amplifier and a pair of $350 figure skates. Now I’ll have to wait a whole month to buy the amp instead (I’m still buying the skates). I realize now, that to be able to say that statement little over a year later is incredible… and it’s something to be thankful for.
This experience has opened my eyes to the world in a different way. I’m quite fortunate to be in the situations that I’m in now. I’m fortunate to have the things that I have, and I’m fortunate to have a substantial financial cushion, living in Everything-is-Outrageously-Expensive Land. I’m grateful for these things. I’m grateful tonight for my little champion ’99 Blazer Querida for reminding me that I’m fortunate.
So before I sign off, I’d like to remind you all that there are two sides to every story, even the ones we tell ourselves to make ourselves upset. There really is something wondrous and magnificent hidden within every first glance sorrow or trouble. Find the lesson in every challenging situation, and remember to be grateful for the lessons they teach you. So, friends, what are you grateful for this evening?
