Well, hello there. I trust that, given the fact that it is Friday
morning, you are having a lovely day so far. I know I am, I just had 2
major breakthroughs. I know, its only 9:00 . . . but enough has
happened this morning that I probably should call it a (work) day and
start my weekend. Before I run that by my boss, come in for the real
thing.

Its pretty common knowledge that I'm not the greatest
driver. I mean, no big deal, we're all allowed a few faults, right?
Yes. Its not that I'm female, or even Asian, its just that I have so
much other stuff going on that sometimes driving/staying on the
road/not being a jackass while merging can . . . (wait for it) . . .
take a back seat to everything else on my "to-do" list. For example, I
initially started this post while driving, in addition to cutting
coupons (don't ask), having an ML, sipping on a diet coke, blackberry
messaging and having an afternoon snack of almonds. The only reason I
had to pause was because I happened across a Notorious B.I.G. old
school tribute on my radio. Let's be honest, doing anything else but
listening to Christopher Wallace when one has the chance is just
obnoxious. Exactly, I see you nodding your head in agreement. Anyway, I
totally forgot to finish and now here we are.

But a rather
interesting thing happened this morning. I was on my way to work,
switching lanes without signaling, writing a "must-do" list and
organizing my MAC lip glasses by undertone when some idiot starts like
tailing me. Rude! Like dude, its Friday. Totally not my fault you're
late for the morning shift at Kohl's. So, obviously I look in my rear
view mirror, lower my Gucci's and give him a look and then smile and
continue with the tasks at hand. And still, he stays on my ass -- and
not even figuratively. Gah. I can tell he's starting to get anxious.
And for what! Its not like its hard to find a job these days. I start
to wonder if there is anything I can do (besides focus on the road) to
ease his nerves. So I turn my Friday mix up to the max volume on my
factory-installed system and smile and drive on. Leading by example!
Well, I'm sure you've guessed that my Friday mix consists of 5 songs,
as follows: "Man in the Mirror" by MJ, duh; "A New Day Has Come" by
Celine Dion; "Today was a Good Day" by Ice Cube; "Shower the People" by
James Taylor; and "Juicy" by B.I.G. However, today just felt like a
Michael kind of day, so M.I.T.M was obvi on repeat. I was totes feeling
those words, as I do everyday when I play it on repeat. If you can name
me one song better than that . . . well, I won't even waste my time
finishing that sentence, because you can't.

So, as I'm turning
up the collar on/my favorite winter coat & looking at the (wo)man
in the mirror, homeboy pulls up next to me, and we're at a light! Fuck.
I for sure thought tomorrow's paper was going to read "Adorable woman
killed while making the world a better place (by looking in the mirror
to make the change.)" I mean, I'm in Durham, people don't fuck around
up there, and since its casual Friday, I had neglected to strap on my
bullet proof vest. But then, just as the choir backs up the King of Pop
on the refrain, I glanced to my right and saw . . . a smile spread
across this man's face. I initially thought he was smiling because he
was going to knife my tires at lunch, but no. He tried to say
something, but GMAFB, I don't roll my windows down anywhere, let alone
in Research Triangle Park; so he simply gave a . . . thumbs up.

Say
what? Yes, I promise. I single-handedly had made this man's morning. I
can see him now, lovingly creasing khakis in the boys department of the
Durham Kohl's as we speak. It just felt good. M.J. knew what he was
doing, both in and out of Neverland, that's for sure.