Defensive Concentration – I’m convinced the evening rush hour is more intense and extreme than morning rush hour. I’m more on edge and resistant to line cutters and traffic signal violators in the evening than I am in the morning. Maybe it’s the countless scheduled meetings, hallway whispers and water cooler huddles with insignificant people that could care less that I really am a Queen over someone’s kingdom. Whatever my reasons are, I literally feel the bubbly juice that causes my lips to crease with joy slowly dissipate, as I regurgitate the leftover remnants of my purposeless day while my evening grows near the 5 o’clock hour. It seems the whole commuting workforce has sucked down the same gallon of unrewarding Kool-Aid that causes side effects of aggressive driving, rudeness, middle finger displays and oblivion.
Every evening, as I prepare for the impending ritual to travel home to my loved ones, I open my daily notebook and check items off my to-do-list; shuffle the growing pile of “to-do-tomorrow” folders; shift the “to-do-ASAP” pile to another side of my desk; pull my trashcan from under my desk for the nighttime cleaners; and grab my purse and sift through it to find the most important element to a successful commute…my chewing gum. Yes, yes, not my keys, but my fresh pack of DOUBLEMINT. For the past few months, I’ve noticed a new calmness while driving after I’ve loaded up in the grocery check-out line with packs of gum to smooth out my bumpy commute.
I sit in my driver seat, turn on the ignition, sift inside my purse for the pack of gum that has been calling my name all afternoon. Bam…I pop a fresh piece of gum in my mouth and I’m off to brave the commuting world of crazy. I chew intensely while dodging slow drivers, texting drivers and those who choose not to turn in a left turn only lane or those who refuse to turn on red. Chewing gum calms my nerves and makes me more alert. The amount of empty gum packs I randomly find in all my purses confirms that I buy chewing gum like a smoker buys their favorite pack of cigarettes. It is the number one necessity for ensuring I have a safe, uneventful, focused and tolerable commuting experience. My rhythmic chew allows me to ignore the cloud of chaos around me as drivers on the street wipe out parked cars and ram into stop signs as if rush hour is the apocalypse. If only they knew how calm life could be with something as simple as focusing on the Rush Hour Chew!