SUDDEN LIGHT

White Tuxedos, a Tims Moment and

a Wylie Road Fire Truck

Hmmm, how often do we give in to our off-the-cuff reaction without considering what lies on the other side of our limited perspective?

I saw a rather peculiar sight on my way to church at 8:30 am this morning. A man was walking along the sidewalk, on a predominantly industrial street, wearing a white tuxedo with a backpack slung on his back. He was shuffling along rather listlessly looking like he wasn’t sure where he intended to go.

My off-the-cuff reaction: That’s weird. I wonder what that dude has been smoking.

I turned into a plaza at the next stoplight to grab a coffee. Inside the Tim Hortons, a man with a young son was berating the women taking his order. From the snippets of conversation I picked up, it seemed he was upset that the service was slow and was very offended by how the woman serving him replied to his complaint. He demanded to his money back.

My off-the-cuff reaction: What a jerk. His reaction is way out of proportion.

At that point, my brain made on those sideways leaps that sometimes happen. I recalled an incident from the day before. I was at bird watching at Carden Alvar on Wylie Road. Wylie Road is a 10 km side road. It starts out as a reasonably groomed gravel road but trickles down for the last 7 or 8 kms to a one-car wide, dirt and gravel back road.

I was out of my car, scanning for Grasshopper Sparrows, Loggerhead Shrikes and Upland Sandpipers, at one of the designated viewing spots. A fire truck went past with lights flashing and sirens howling. A few moments, later another fire truck went past. Five or ten minutes later, an EMS vehicle towing a small trailer went past.

Those of gathered at the viewing spot raised eyebrows and exchanged “Looks like something major happened” off-the-cuff comments – all the while hoping the vehicles involved were using Wylie Road as a short cut to someplace else.

Half an hour later, not inspired by what I was seeing, I drove on down Wylie Road to get to the next side road and more interesting landscapes. But to my chagrin, I found the road was blocked near the end by the EMS vehicles. I couldn’t see past the fire truck. But it appeared – to my limited perspective – that nothing major was going on.

Frustrated and muttering, I had to back up 500 yards to find a place to turn around and backtrack 8 or 9 kilometres down Wylie Road. It put a damper on the balance of the day.

Back to this morning. My brain began to connect the dots. Clearly something very serious – perhaps tragic – had happened on Wylie Road on Saturday afternoon. Something of much greater magnitude than the minor inconvenience I experienced. I was unable see past the fire truck which symbolized my limited perspective on the moment.

And the white-tuxedo-man with the backpack… It is entirely possible that something tragic had happened in his life that shook loose his grip on reality. In the moment, I couldn’t see past the apparent peculiarity of his behaviour.

And the disgruntled customer at Tim Hortons… It is equally possible that his life had come off the rails and the frustrating wait at Tims that day was the last straw. In the moment, I couldn’t see past his apparently inappropriate behaviour.

The fire truck on Wylie Road blocking my path was a metaphor for what often lies on the other side of our limited perspective. All too often, we react to what we can – or cannot – see without considering what lies beyond our view and outside our ability to comprehend. The story behind the story is often the most important one of all.

~ Michael Robert Dyet is the author of “Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel” – double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

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