"....its Ok, don't worry, we will go from the shortcut..."

"....its Ok, don't worry, we will go from the shortcut..." 

...said mom, to calm me down. This was on one of the days when I was in primary school and used to take the school bus daily. 

It was morning school for me, so getting up and getting ready on time was always a challenge. There were days when the bus driver (let's call him Uncle Chris) would honk & wait for a while if the kid wasn't ready. But then one day, we found out that Uncle Chris was assigned another route and we had a new driver (lets call him Uncle Will) at his place. Uncle Will would just not wait beyond a few seconds and take off if the kid did not arrive in those few seconds. So in one such instance, while mom & I were rushing down the stairs, he left with the bus. I panicked. That's when mom told me we could still catch the bus by taking the small lane opposite our society. The other end of the lane opened up at a road where the bus would reach after a couple of stops. So we ran through the lane and waited at the other end, sweating. The bus arrived a few moments later and I boarded it. Will gave me the look, as if I were a convicted serial killer walking out of the court room.

Slowly, this started happening every few days. Once a week or so, I'd be late and we'd run through the lane to catch the bus. In the process, I'd sometimes trip or bang my knee against the rods ( the narrow lane had rods in between so that vehicles would not pass through) while we rushed to reach the other end. This continued for a few weeks. Eventually, many parents complained about Will's conduct and the authorities got Chris back. I never had to use that lane again that year.

- None of Uncle Chris or Uncle Will were probably wrong. Perhaps both prioritized a separate set of values. Uncle Chris probably was more empathetic and Uncle Will was more of a disciplinarian.

- Its great to discover a shortcut that helps us sometimes. However, if we start banking on the shortcut too often, knowing about its availability, we might need to be prepared for a sweaty experience & the possibilities of tripping/getting bruised while using it.

The availability of a shortcut is better than not having one. Falling into the trap of getting addicted to some of these shortcuts, however, is what we will struggle with for all of our lives, probably.