My second trip to Manhattan in two weeks brought me to an inevitable spot. Rockefeller Center and its bejeweled tree had drawn crowds even in the late afternoon, when the lights were not yet piercing and the skaters weren’t yet pirouetting below. I joined the throng.
I had hoped for a bench, and I was happily surprised one lining each side of the garden that approaches the view. With people swirling around me, I sat and watched.
With the fast turnover of the crowd, it didn’t take long to pick out the one person who didn’t move on. And it wasn’t this rather grim-faced guy, who stood for some time alone, unmoving against the wall. Even he eventually melded back into the crowd.
The one constant was a young guard who had been given the duty of telling people to stop standing on the benches. Or climbing into the garden.
Most often, they were after a clearer, more dramatic shot. But he commanded –politely – that they get down. Or get out of the plants. And scarcely a minute went by without him approaching someone.
I decided I had to talk to him.
“Tough job,” I said when I sidled up. He nodded. I added, “Anyone ever get angry?”
“Nah,” he answered. “They’re tourists. They listen. Thing is, they don’t realize those benches are slick. Don’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Little life lesson there. Rules aren’t usually just to curtail fun. They mean to protect – not only delicate displays from trampling tourists, but trampling tourists from themselves.
I’ve been feeling a bit lately like challenges in life are like security guards just putting a damper on the fun. Standing in the way of a great shot, as it were.
But according to a dear friend I talked with as I drove today, challenges can be a way to get our attention – to stop and take stock, to pay attention to what we’re doing. To think about the decisions we’re making. And the ones that we might need to make.
There might just be a new angle, a new approach, a new road to take.
Now only if I could find a herald to announce which direction that would be.
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