Barging Ahead

Despite my numerous firsthand negative experiences resulting from barging ahead, I rarely turn down an opportunity to step up to the plate even if the pork chops are still oinking.

In some situations this is a blessed character trait: At school I am rarely stressed, since I am frequently over-planned; so far in our home business office (same room as the mud room, living room, entertainment den, study, kitchen, spare bedroom, and dining room) we’ve never had to pay a late fee for any bills, since they’re usually paid off days or even weeks in advance.

In other situations, however, this conquering of anticipated responsibilities is a cursedly incoherent babble of potentials. For example, as I pulled into the parking lot at an auto parts store on Monday, I saw a sign: “Free windshield wiper installation with purchase.”

Now, I already know how to install my own wiper blades–a guy at a different auto parts store once showed me–and so un-free or even no installation would have been absolutely fine. But as the customer service representative went to retrieve my new thermostat and I cast my critical eye over the store, it occurred to me that our wiper blades have in fact been a bit noisy recently, and we’re going to be traveling a lot in the coming weeks, and so maybe I should get some new blades, just in case.

“Maybe they’ll fit in the wheel well with the spare,” I thought, but they don’t and so now our trunk is even smaller.