Gandhi Visits the Car Wash
You know those automatic change machines? The machines that allow you to feed in a dollar, and then they give you 4 quarters. Like at the car wash…
Do you remember how insanely frustrating those machines can be?
A slightly bent corner. A little crease in the dollar. A rip…fugettaboutit. No change for you!
That damn dollar would just keep spitting out of that damn machine, over and over and over.
You’d turn it frontwards, backwards, upside down (despite the instructional photo). You’d fold it lengthwise and rub it vigorously over a corner of some flat surface.
Then, on your 10th attempt…the dollar would disappear inside the machine. Finally!!
Your eyes would light up with anticipation. You’d wait for that wonderful sound of quarters hitting the metal tray. Tink, Tink, Tink, Tink.
But…after 3, sometimes 5 seconds of that low vibration and hum. The sound those rollers (or whatever) made as they sucked in the dollar. Here it comes.
Here it comes…your dollar. Regurgitated by this cold, lifeless, miserable machine.
So you snatch the dollar so fast, you nearly rip it in half. You crinkle it and jam it into your wallet, not giving one shit if the bill gets further damaged. It’s already failed you. And this machine is worthless.
It is then, that you actually consider putting that crisp, clean $5 billl into the machine.
I mean…you don’t need 20 quarters. But Abe is looking steamed and fresh. It’s gotta work. Right?
If you haven’t had this experience, consider yourself lucky. At the carwash, perhaps a game room, sometimes a vending machine. Just miserable.
Well…let me tell you that last night, at the self-service car wash…I had a different experience.
I took out my change cup (I carry a cup of loose change in the cup holder…you know, for tolls and car washes, because those damn change machines don’t work) and headed for the wash controller.
I started to fish out the quarters when it became clear: I needed more quarters.
I glanced over at the change machine and squinted my eyes slightly. I was in the adjacent wash bay. I could already feel the frustration starting to build.
But I took a deep breath, pulled out my wallet, and walked over.
I had some cash in my wallet (luckily), but also some business cards and folded up papers and receipts. So the cash wasn’t alone. It didn’t have the room to stay perfectly positioned in its rectangular prison.
Nonetheless, I pulled out what I thought looked like the dollar in the best shape. I gave it a nice ‘snap’ by pulling from each end several times, and quickly placed it on the feeder.
And at the last moment, I noticed something horrible. I noticed that the corner was bent down. And not just any corner…the front corner, facing the feeder. But it was too late…
And as I went to pull the dollar bill from the jaws of the machine (really, kind of duck lips)…it was too late. Noooooo! The rollers were already rolling. The clamp-thing had apparently already done its clamping, and the machine sucked the dollar out of my had.
I waited. I waited. I listened…to the hum of ball bearings and rejection.
But guess what happened? Tink. Tink. Tink. Tink. Quarters!!
This dreadful machine had accepted what was clearly a bent front corner. How could this be? And this wasn’t just a small bend, it was nearly 1/8 inch. And I think there was a slight tear underneath the fold.
This was…Fantastic. Clearly this machine had evolved. Clearly there was some sort of new design. Clearly there were engineers somewhere working to make a difference in this world.
(Or maybe this machine was just smart enough to f^#& with me?)
Who knows… The point of this analogy is: PROGRESS
Progress. That’s really what this writing routine is all about for me.
Following a ritual that helps me enter a mindset, every day. A mindset of gratitude, and of inspired action.
A mindset that helps me to be mindful that time is our most valuable commodity.
A mindset that helps me to remember that each and every day IS a chance for inspired action, and for progress.
I want to evolve. I want to get better. I want to make progress. Towards my goals, both professional and personal…each and every day.
I want to be like that new change machine.
Taking in the once-discarded currency of knowledge, and giving back treasure.
Too dramatic? Sorry, not Sorry.
Friends, I say this: Be new & improved today. Be Great.
Be the change machine you wish to see in the world.
(see what I did there)
