Curve balls, the scientist and the guinea pig

I am conducting an experiment: what happens when I change the way I handle life’s inevitable curve balls? In this experiment, I’m the guinea pig and the scientist. Since life’s curve balls are unpredictable, who knows when they will occur? Luckily, I have participated in two trials so far. Results are encouraging.

The first experiment occurred in March when I headed to Key West for a week’s vacation. My flight was in the early afternoon, so I left packing and errands for that morning. I patted myself on the back that I was so organized: the one-quart bag with one-ounce bottles? Check. Online boarding pass? Check. Sunglasses? Check? Ample reading material? Check. Cash for the taxi? Check. Picture ID? Didn’t check that one, as I discovered when I reached into my wallet just before security. I had left it behind at the bank. No license. No admittance. How would I handle this?

The usual way: morph into Chicken Little running this way and that crying “The sky is falling, the sky is falling!”? No. This time, I remained calm. I had plenty of time to take a taxi back to Arlington, retrieve my license and return to Logan with time to spare. Engaging in a lively conversation with the taxi driver was a bonus (positive reinforcement!).

I had taken the incident in stride. While I waited for departure, I realized that calamity had turned into an adventure, perhaps because I was traveling solo. If I had been traveling with someone else, maybe I would have launched into the familiar “distress and blame mode,” blaming myself or the other person for this gaffe. I’d have fumed, stewed and vented at a vacation now off to a wretched start. How productive is that? How helpful is that? Not very.

This past week, I held the second trial. I left the map light on in my car and parked it for five days. When I returned, the battery was so dead it had wreaked havoc on the car’s computer and a simple jumpstart couldn’t fix it.

I thought back to Logan and the missing driver’s license. How was I going to handle this curve ball? No Chicken Little. I cut myself some slack. Triple A and a nearby Subaru dealer saved the day. No fuming, stewing and venting that the week had ended wretchedly.

The experiment continues. So far the curve balls have been personal ones. I know that Kathleen Darcy, Maureen Gormley and Rebecca Riccio, all of whom sit on the Board, have witnessed what happens firsthand when curve balls occur at the Chamber. I know all three will be watching with interest to see what the outcome will be when it is a Chamber curve ball.

The scientist in me is actually looking forward to curve balls now. How will I handle the third trial? So far, I’m the one who’s been responsible for both gaffes. My inner guinea pig has yet to be tested when someone else curves the ball. Will I say goodbye to “the sky is falling” forever? Will I cut that person the same kind of slack? Will I be as generous and resilient? I don't know.

Two new things I happen to have learned; the scientist would call them unexpected outcomes. Add photo ID to the checklist when traveling. Turn off the map light.