Early Warning System

When I was little I was certain that by the time I grew up, there would be flying cars.

Never again would I have to suffer through long afternoons in the hot cab of the tow truck without air conditioning, because I would have a flying car and it most certainly would have air conditioning. I thought about all my friends and who I would give rides to first.

I was in fourth grade though, so I based my decisions solely on who was the funnest to have over and sleep overs and who gave the best Valentine's every year.

Now that I'm older I'm not all that surprised that we don't have flying cars. I mean, just think about what a mess that would be. A bunch of tired, under caffeinated adults dragging themselves out of bed and flying through rush hour traffic. All those idiots on the freeway? They'd be all up in your flight path, like "Oh hey did you want to land here? Too bad because I'm just chilling on this runway for no good reason, HAPPY TUESDAY."

One thing I am a little surprised that we don't have by now is some kind of emotional early warning system.

Some mechanism that is not only in tune with the Universe and the future actions of others, but also with out own tender and sensitive natures. A device that warns you "Your ex-boyfriend, the one who broke your heart and ruined your life? He's going to send you a vague and confusing email in exactly two days that you will obsess and stress over. Be prepared."

Or an app on our smart phones that vibrates to let us know "Someone you love dearly is going to say something you didn't ever think they'd say and it's going to ruin you. Plan on staying in for the next few days."

I guess kind of like a horoscope, but actually accurate, so that we can know when the pain is coming, when the trouble is brewing, and we can prepare ourselves for the blows before hand.

Gone would be the days of being blind sided by a hurtful comment, a betrayal, a surprise encounter with someone you're not ready to see yet.

But I guess it's always possible in the end that no amount of warning would make some of the trespasses on the most vulnerable parts of ourselves any easier to deal with.

It's likely that some things will just hurt no matter how far in advance we see them coming, and no matter how much we try to batten down the hatches ahead of time.

I guess if that's the case I'd still like my flying car.

And some chocolate.

Lots of chocolate.