Through some miraculous coincidences (yes, yes, that's right.
coincidences. I wish I could, but I just can't take credit for this
one...), I have discovered my meaning of life. I'll give you a few
seconds just to think about that sentence...
...
...
One day I was walking home from my work. I was doing this because my
car had had a problem, and it couldn't fix it by reading one of those
Chicken Soup for the Soul books, so I had to take it to a
doctor. I was also walking home because the people who drive the
busses were also having problems that could not be fixed by reading
one of those Chicken Soup for the Soul books: they felt they
were not being paid enough for the job they were paid to perform. They
were right. They knew they were right. So they went on strike. So
because of two problems, in no way caused by me, I now had a problem:
my pale chicken legs had to carry me and my briefcase almost one and
one-half miles. One and one-half miles is equivilent to seven
thousand, nine hundred, and twenty feet. seven thousand, nine hundred,
and twenty feet is equal to ninety-five thousand, and forty inches. My
feet are appoximately ten inches long, so that means that it is nine
thousand, five hundred, and four steps from my work, to my house. I'm
a lucky man. As I was walking home from my job, I was stopped by a
stranger and he asked me a question. This question not only changed my
life up to this point, it helped me realize my meaning of life. You
may have noticed that I say, "my meaning of life," rather than "the
meaning of life." That is simply because I am not you, nor are you me.
He told me that people never discover the meaning of life because
there is no meaning of life. Only your meaning, and my meaning,
and your computer's meaning (of course, your computer is a robot...so
it doesn't have a meaning.), and so on...
Most likely, by now, you're wondering what the question the stranger
asked me that day as I was walking home from work was. It was short,
and sweet, and it takes a certain mind to beable to understand why the
question is so utterly important to the survival of human-beings. I'll
keep writing, so don't forget to listen, and maybe a stranger will ask
you a question that will change your life.
Sincerely,
Elliot Rosewater Sr.