Odd directions and car key Buddhism

Yesterday afternoon, I had to brave the noise and crowds of the Washington Metropolitan area for the second time in two weeks. The useless job fair and 4 1/2 hour commute last time did not deter me. This time, I decided to drive - destination: the Peace Corps Career Center in Rosslyn, Virginia. Armed with directions from the website, I made my way closer and closer to that terrifying capitol city where I've never driven, despite having grown up 20 minutes away. The directions neglected to mention actual road names, so I got lost quickly after the exit from 395. After a long and circuitous backtrack, I happened upon Wilson Boulevard and parked.

The Peace Corps was offering resume reviews by human resource professionals, so I thought I would get a little advice on jazzing up my CV. After a thirty minute wait, I got fifteen minutes of time. He was very nice, and gave me the standard assurances that I would find something. As for my resume, he didn't have much to contribute. He said he would run it by a few others with more technical background and get back to me. We finished at 5:00, and I drove around Rosslyn for several minutes before I found my way back to 395. Rush hour. 45 minutes later, I'd made it to the next exit, Shirlington. At that point, I couldn't take another minute of the road, so I ducked off the interstate in search of the Shirlington movie theater. I figured as long as I wasn't going anywhere for awhile, I might as well stop in and see a movie - they usually have great independent films there. I was hoping to catch An Inconvenient Truth, the new film about the environment featuring Al Gore.

Before I even found the theater, I got a call from my good friend OJ. He works in Rosslyn just a few minutes from where I'd just been, and he'd finally switched on his phone and received my messages about having dinner. So back on 395 I went, this time going the other way - the one with no traffic. I would have made it back to Rosslyn in 5 minutes if I hadn't gotten lost again. Before I knew it, I was about 100 feet away from the Washington Monument wondering how the heck I could have gotten so turned around. I found my way back eventually, and OJ and I walked over to Ruby Tuesday for a stimulating political dinner conversation where I refrained from leaping across the table and strangling him at least a half dozen times. I'm more of an "agree to disagree" kind of person. OJ prefers to discuss things thoroughly and then agree to disagree. Luckily, I've known OJ a very long time, and we can push each other's buttons and still be friends afterward. Even if he is cold and barren.

The reason I tell this story is to bring up the point that life sometimes takes you in odd directions. My plan for the night was to watch An Inconvenient Truth and bask in my own moral superiority concerning the environment and our precious earth. Instead, I ended up cruising Barnes and Noble while OJ picked up the latest Ann Coulter book. While not the way I expected to spend my evening, it was still a pleasant diversion from the ordinary.

After dropping him off, I braved the Interstate again. It was after 11:00 by then and yes, there was still traffic. Around Franconia-Springfield, we came to a dead stop and putted along for 3 miles. To keep from being perturbed, I practiced my Buddhist meditation techniques, mainly being mindful of just how angry I was feeling and how pointless it was to get so upset over something I couldn't control. I put Tori in the CD player and sang loudly to distract myself. After 40 minutes, I could no longer go to my happy place. I took the next exit and managed to find a way around the mess, despite having no idea where I was. I think I have gotten a lot calmer about things, but eventually it always comes out. I don't allow myself to get bothered much while I'm actually driving, but then I have dreams where I scream at the top of my lungs at some driver who's cut me off. I guess I'm not a very good Buddhist. But I'm on the right track.

Last week, Marcia asked our friend Mike to summarize Buddhism for her. He described what he calls "car key Buddhism". Three friends are standing around talking, and one of them drops their keys. The other two instinctively lean down to pick them up - not because they expect something in return, not because they feel a moral obligation to do it. They do it because it's the right thing to do, and they do it without thinking. The trick is to live our lives that way all the time. It's also an appropriate name, he says, because when he has too much to drink, you might have to take away the car keys (and the Buddhism). And so it goes.