Life is not about "disdain." Not at all!

I re-read her email.  "social science colleagues' disdain for your input and perspectives"

Disdain. Was it for my thoughts, or for me too?  All because I am not a " unionist"?  But, seriously, disdain?  Contempt for me?

The human that I am, it bothered me.  But, not for long.  I know that life can be worse.  Way worse.  After all, my intellectual interests are mostly about the global population to whom my life would be way beyond their wildest dreams.

I got back to my work.
Went home.
Cooked.
And ate and chatted with the friend.

I woke up to a new morning.

I was just about settling into the beginning of the drive along the long and winding road to campus when I spotted brake lights in the two cars ahead of me.

I slowed down.

The road was blocked.

A cop was there by her car with the lights flashing.  She motioned us to take the detour, and we proceeded along.

Of course, I had to find out right away what the reason might be.  But, nothing along the drive.  I turned the radio on.

An accident.
No, two of them.
Three dead.
In the morning.

If ever I had any lingering emotions over the "disdain," the deaths of three in road accidents put that in perspective.

After I returned home, I checked the news:

Three people died this morning in two separate vehicle accidents on and near Highway 99 West.
The first accident occurred just before 7 a.m. on the highway near Milliron Road when three vehicles collided, killing two people, Oregon State Police said.
The two victims were identified as Brandon J. Foster, 25, of Junction City, and Danielle M. Roberts, 25, of Springfield.
The second crash was reported just after 8:30 a.m. on Meadowview Road and Prairie Road, the detour route around the first accident. One person, 62-year-old Eugene Wong of Eugene, died in that crash, sheriff’s officials said.

I wonder what dreams the two 25-year old men had for the rest of their lives that they thought they had until the minute of that accident.  The 62-year old was my age not many years ago.

I am here. 

I am alive.

I want to enjoy the remaining third of my life.  Like how I enjoyed the view outside my office as the sun made the campus come to life.

Why care about the "disdain" and the hate and the animosity!