Pause before you pass

The old man stopped in the middle of the street and calmly looked at the steady stream of people passing by. They paid no attention to him. He was a strikingly kind looking old man with sharp eyes and a crooked nose. He spent some time surveying the young crowd who always seemed to be in such a haste. He sighed deeply and started walking slowly. He was in no hurry. After all, he had nothing to do and nowhere to go. He stopped at a local deli to get lunch and patiently stood in line behind a large number of people glued to their cell phones. As he waited for his turn, a toddler walked on her tippy toes and hugged his knees. Looking down, he smiled at the only other person in the room who was not staring at a screen. She seemed happy at his attention and grinned back. He had not seen such a beautiful smile in a long time. He stood transfixed for a moment until her stomach growled, which brought him back to reality.

Looking around, he found a parent who was impatiently pushing an empty stroller back and forth with one hand, while furiously typing on her phone with the other. Sighing again, he walked up to the woman while the girl tagged along, clutching his little finger.

“Ma’am”? he said.

“Huh?” she retorted without looking up.

“Your daughter is hungry” he explained.

That finally got her attention. Although she seemed unabashed at her earlier impertinence. “How many times have I told you not to talk to strangers?” she yelled at her. Shocked, the old man stepped away from the woman who seemed to think strangers were more dangerous than smartphones. He chuckled at the irony.

As he walked back, there was a small commotion at the other end of the line. A young businessman seemed livid at the cashier. “Please sir” said the poor man. “Its hardly been a minute since you ordered. It will be ready in about five minutes”. “What? FIVE minutes?? What am I supposed to do for that long ? My phone just died! ” fumed the young man. “You lazy men shouldn’t be allowed to run a business if you can’t keep the customers happy. What a lousy day!” he went on.

“Hmmm. I wonder if anything would make him happy” mused the old man. He then tried to recall the faces of the young crowd he had seen earlier. He couldn’t think of a single person who seemed happy or content. All he had seen were stressed, annoyed faces.

After finally getting his sandwich, he strolled along the cobweb of busy streets and headed to the park. He decided to rest for a while. As he lay down on the green carpet of grass, he started reminiscing. It was a very different world, he understood that. What he didn’t understand was the quest for fame over family, money over memories, pictures over presence and haste over health. “The ultimate quest should be happiness” he said out loud to the skies.

“Who are you talking to, old man?” asked a young voice. He opened his eyes and saw a boy of about five shyly approach him. “Hello child” he said kindly. “You were talking about happiness” the little guy pressed. “Yes I was. Now tell me, what makes you happy?” he asked, turning around to face the kid. “Uhm, I am happy whenever daddy plays with me” he lighted up. The old man smiled knowingly. That’s all that children wanted. It was very simple, yet very hard for some parents to understand. Then he remembered something. There was no one else around.

“Say, are you here by yourself?” he enquired. “Yes, I am waiting for daddy to pick me up. He is always late” he replied coolly. The old man thought about what was worse. The father dropping off the child at the park to play all by himself, or that the fact that he was “always late”. As he sat there watching the kid kick a ball around, a man of about thirty came running up to the both of them. “I am sorry if he caused you any trouble” the father said politely while catching his breath. “Not at all” the old man replied.”We had a pretty deep conversation about happiness”.

“Happiness,huh?” the father was amused.

“Yes, now could you please enlighten us about what would make you happy?” he asked.

The father sat down and hugged his child. The boy jumped on his lap, grateful for his arrival.

“Well, I have got these round of promotions coming up at work. It would me make me very happy if I got chosen for one” the young dad said while absent-mindedly ruffling his son’s hair.

“What a shame. I sure hope that you don’t get picked” said the old man before he could stop himself.

“What a mean thing to say!” claimed the father.

“Forgive me, let me explain myself. I was worried that you wouldn’t have enough time to play with your son if you got promoted” elaborated the old man.

“Oh I hardly have the time to play with him even now. It is always very busy at work” he replied matter-of-factly.

“I am very sorry that you are poor” quipped the old man.

“Excuse me?” the father shot back.

“I was merely sympathizing. One who does not have time for his child is very poor indeed” said the old man wisely.

The father was silent. He seemed lost in thought. The old man noticed that he was quite pale with rather deep frown lines on his forehead. When he spoke, his voice was melancholic.

“With all due respect sir, it is easy for you to talk about time since you are retired. I work hard only for my family, not for myself. I want to buy a bigger house and make them happy”

“Son, all your family needs is a home and not a big house. The only true happiness you can provide them is when you are with them. As you look back on life when you are an old man like me, the only regret you will have is that you didn’t create more memories with your family. Money will never cross your mind. The race for money will never end. Learn to make priorities. You and your family will benefit greatly from it” advised the old man.

The father smiled. He jumped up. His steps seemed lighter, his eyes brighter.

“Wanna play, son? ” he asked the child.

The boy was overjoyed. As for the old man, he couldn’t have been happier.