The Smarter Person

I had to drive Briana early to the train station one morning and when I got closer to home I noticed that a blown truck tire was blocking the right lane of a soon to be busy road. So I called the Garden City police to report it. I was being a good citizen. I wanted to prevent accidents.

When the policeman answered the phone I said Yes Officer. I would like to report an obstruction on the west side of Clinton Road between Locust and Poplar. I felt good about how well I described the location. It was very Law and Order-like.

But the officer said On the west side coming from which direction?—Garden City towards Hempstead or Hempstead towards Garden City? I was confused. West is always West on a road that runs north/south. Only left or right matters if you are traveling north to south or south to north. East or West is a constant---that is the point. But because he was an authority figure and I wanted to be respectful I overlooked his comment and said the obstruction is on the right side going south on Clinton from Garden City towards Hempstead.

My mother had cataract surgery on her left eye the other day. She wore a patch over it. My mother’s right eye has macular degeneration. She is legally blind in that eye. And when I drove her home from the hospital post-op she said Why are you going home this way? I was confused. How could she tell which way I was going? She couldn’t see. She couldn’t see yet she was giving me directions. But as my mother is an authority figure and I wanted to be respectful I overlooked her comment and simply said this way is faster.

Sometimes being the smarter person means keeping your smarts to yourself.