Shattered glass

Thursday afternoon I finally got my sideview mirror replaced.

Nearly two months earlier, I'd cracked it pretty hard on a garbage can on trash day morning while driving up my street. It was a bonehead move. I should've been another foot to the left, and the giant plastic garbage bin should've been two feet to the right...off the road. Welcome to early morning lack of depth perception.

Needless to say, my trusty mechanic was able to get an aftermarket (aka used) part for much less than new. It only took the guys in his shop about 20-30 minutes to install it, and now I can see without piecing together a picture of the world behind and to the right of me while driving.

The fractured mirror reminded me of something I'd done mistakenly a month or two prior.

I was getting ready for bed and took a hot drinking glass out of the dishwasher. I walked the step across the kitchen to the fridge and pulled out the Brita pitcher. I set the glass on the bar cart by the fridge and poured water into it.

Fewer than three seconds later, I heard a pop, pop pop pop pop. The glass cracked and cracked and cracked again, spilling water all over the cart, the floor. Big pieces of the glass fell out of my left hand that had been holding it steady.

I've broken my fair share of pitchers over the years while making iced tea. But, this was the first time I broke a think glass with cold water.

It reminded me how fragile the world around me is, how fragile we all are within it. It reminded me to be kind, to pay attention, to look for the fissures in others and be careful not to widen them. It also reminded me that things are fleeting. People make impacts, not stuff...unless it's my sidemirror with the neighbor's ill-placed trash bin.