Story 24: How to live to be 100

I have two relatives Mark and Steve who are hard-working extremely adventurous guys.  They are Jewish but because they grew up and live in Staten Island have a bit of an Italian accent and style. They are also extreme skiers who have heli-skied, and skied down from the very top of mountains that I can only imagine doing.  They also both work for NYC doing sanitation.

The commute from Staten Island to Manhattan is one of the longest commutes in the city, and can sometimes take up one hour to travel a very short distance.  One summer, Mark was sick and tired of his long commute so he decided to try to take a different way to work.  He hooked his jet ski to the back of his car and drove towards the water.

Several times during the summer, Mark rode his jet ski to the private pier of the department of Sanitation, and then after tying his water craft to the pier climbed up the ladder complete with his orange life vest, body soaked with water, and hair encrusted with salt.  He was lucky because he had a locker with a change of clothes at work, and most impressively was able to cut his commute from an hour to fifteen minutes, and became semi-famous because of his creative commuting, and audacious style.

Another occasion Mark and Steve went to Hawaii for a vacation. They had a great time, but Mark was surprised by something he learned about the locals. In Hawaii, many people are very relaxed and often live with an “Olaha spirit” Those who do usually do not rush through life, but rather try to appreciate the moment in the same way they can appreciate a sunset.  This laid back attitude also applies to driving. In particular, unlike New York City, Hawaiians typically don’t honk if you are slow to go through an intersection when a light turns green.

Mark wanted to test this theory.  He got to a light and when the light turned green,  deliberately didn’t drive forward.  The driver behind Mark didn’t honk him once,  but waited the entire time for something to develop. Perhaps the driver behind him assumed that something was wrong with Mark’s car, or wasn’t in a hurry because they were heading to the beach.  Either way, he never honked at all.

Mark  was truly surprised by the driver's lack of response so he decided to do it a  second time.  The light turned green and Mark waited another two minutes, and still the driver behind him didn’t honk once. I don’t know about you, but in New York if you hesitate even a second, many people will give you a blast of their horns let alone a full barrel and a repeating barrel, but the man behind him once again did nothing.

“Fascinating.” Mark said to himself.  He was tempted to try the experiment a third time, but in the the end didn’t have the heart to do it.

Life Lesson 24: When faced with a choice don’t be scared to take the less traveled path. Sometimes it may be more scenic, quicker, or even if not, may be a lot more memorable for you and your friends.  Also, remember to take your time and slow down and appreciate the moment, because in the end, that’s what life is all about, simple moments.  We can learn a lot from the Hawaiian’s, and adopt some of their “aloha spirit” maybe that’s one reason why their life expectancy is the longest in the country. So long in fact, that’s probably why they don’t mind waiting at lights.