I’m looking to buy a magic flying carpet. Anyone have one for sale?
I’m glad to be a part of someone’s celebration. We pray for it. We want good things to happen to others. We want to be there. But we really don’t enjoy the Schlepping!
People think – “I’m looking for the nicest venue” when they are planning their party. But when they are on the guest side they think – “how long is the ride to get there?” What happens to us? Do our brains fall out when it becomes- our party!
Ok, true some places have better food and atmosphere. I guess for most, the better the taste and ambiance, the less painful the trip. Apparently our ability to sit for long stretches of time is directly connected to our gastric system and our eye sockets. Who knew?!
But honestly, when something is local, don’t you just love it?!!! Who would think, when they are looking to buy a home, to check Simcha halls in the neighborhood? Let me see -number of bathrooms, number of bedrooms, size of kitchen,…. proximity to a good hall?! Nah -just doesn’t seem important till you start attending events, weddings, etc.!
How do you like when you have two occasions to attend in one night? For instance, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night on your calendar are more or less free. But, Thursday, you have two weddings to go to- at opposite ends of the universe- say like Brooklyn and New Jersey! Which might as well be opposite ends of the Universe! Can you get to both?! This is where the magic carpet would really come in handy!
Williamsburg just never looked as good, huh?!
We are busy creatures. Flitting about is just so difficult.
Last week I was lucky to get a ride to a wedding that was somewhere in Yenemsvelt, NJ. It took us like 2 hours to get there. Maybe if it wasn’t Thursday night, in the summer, it would have been only 40 minutes away! So this terrific couple Mr. and Mrs. H. were nice enough to save me the trouble of driving. It doesn’t mean I avoided driving altogether, though. In addition to the 2-hour trip, myself and another passenger converged on them at their home. She drove like 25 minutes to get there, while I drove about 15 minutes from another direction. Basically we can call that the pre-trip trip. But it could be construed as part of the overall travel time. Can you imagine how much longer all of this would have taken though, if the H.’s had gone around picking every one up? We’d have been crashing the Shevah brachot! Again this could have been a great magic carpet moment!
I’m not saying I’m looking forward to “self-driving cars”. I’m afraid then there will be no car conversation. Everyone will be busy on their technology. With a driver at the helm, everyone feels the responsibility to keep him or her entertained. So there’s some healthy interaction. After all, they are handling the brunt of the pressure: watching the road continuously, not -we hope-taking little cat naps, working to make the right twists and turns, and responding to everyone’s ideas of what the picture on the Waze is actually diagrammatically showing as the next turn.
All I’m trying to encourage is, all things being equal, if you can make an affair local- try and do it.
And if you can help it ….
Try not to make friends in other neighborhoods!
Try to marry a local boy or girl!
Or- more realistically – recognize a trip is a great time for quality bonding! And if you are driving alone, a great time to call your mother in law!
Oh yes, and if that mother in law happens to be me – it’s ok if you don’t call, just as long as you’ve found me a magic flying carpet for my next birthday. WOOPS, I take that back, I just remembered, I don’t like heights!! And on the QT, I’m certainly not that wild about birthdays anymore either!!!
Rivki Rosenwald is a certified relationship counselor, and career and life coach. She can be contacted at 917-705-2004 or rivki@rosenwalds.com<mailto:rivki@rosenwalds.com