“Would you rather be a movie star or a doctor?”
I was nearly home and done with my daily commute by bicycle. In front of me was the last hill to ride up before the half-mile downhill coast to my front door.
It wasn’t a big or long hill, but it was a challenge. It rose steeply and then leveled off each time it approached one of the five intersections that lay between me and the summit. I had just passed the point at which the ride up the hill starts to feel like real work. I unzipped my jacket. It had seemed so necessary when I put it on at the start of my commute. Now it seemed so unnecessary.
I passed the corner house where a mother and daughter were out in the yard raking leaves. Well, mom was raking and daughter seemed to be supervising. I shifted down in preparation for the upcoming steep incline to the next intersection.
That’s when I overheard the daughter ask “Would you rather be a movie star or a doctor?†Her tone of voice suggested that all other possible career paths weren’t even worth considering. Movie star or doctor. Those are your choices. What’s it going to be?
I kept riding even though I really wanted to stop and hear the answer. It put a smile on my face to think about the question and what the answer might be.
That’s one of the great pleasures of cycling. No, I’m not talking about eavesdropping. I’m talking about how it gives me some time to think about my own questions and what the answers might be. But first, you have to be able to hear the questions. The slow, silent pace of cycling allows you to actually hear the questions. And, apparently, not just my own questions.
