Lorelle challenged me. Me! I’ll show her. I can write about traveling. After all, I’ve been places. Let’s see. Yes, there was that trip…and that one. Ahhh! Dynamite!

You know how in narratives the reader sometimes has the upper hand on the character? The piece of the story the reader knows but the character doesn’t seem privy to because of his or her shortcomings?  This is not one of those stories. I know what’s happening, but as the reader you will have no clue til the end. However, there’s a lesson in there. Somewhere.

A Mysterious Dragging

One evening, a friend and I had been driving for a few hours on a main interstate that bisects Illinois. It was dark. We were approaching a major city, less than ten miles ahead of us. My friend was smoking. It was winter. The air was cold coming through the sliver of an opening on the passenger side. Up ahead a car was in the right lane, while we moved along in the left. As we drew closer, I could see something hanging down from the driver’s side door, bouncing along the interstate asphalt.

It had to be the driver’s coat. They must of had one of those long coats, with the floppy tails. A business man for sure. The driver had shut their coat in the door. I saw their license plates–Ohio. How could this person drive from Ohio cross an entire state without shifting out of his coat? He must be damned uncomfortable.

“What is that hanging out their door?” I asked my carmate.

“Not sure. Looks like he shut something in his door.” It looked rubbery as it slid and fluidly bounced along the interstate. In the darkness the form of it began to take shape. It looked like a stuffed toy a child would carry. One of those old monkeys with the long tails and the short fur. Or, maybe it wasn’t stuffed.

Unfortunately for the Ohio driver, when they packed their Cadillac full of clothes and necessities for their trip, they did so in the comfort of their garage. The warm garage that the family cat had access to from the utility room door. And in that cold January evening when they had packed everything in the trunk. They started their car and closed the door. However they closed it on the cat’s tail.

The new Cadillac had appealed to that driver. When they took it off the lot for their test drive, they loved how it shut out the sounds of the world. How the traffic seemed to fall away like a dream.

My friend and I tried to inform the Ohio man, with his eye beams focused straight ahead. He ignored our horns and waving hands. Our blinking headlights, until at the dawn of that city, we rushed off the exit ramp.

 So how does this story and challenge pertain to making our blog more successful. Easy. There’s a dynamite lesson in that story for any blogger. The destination seems to matter the most. However, we should know exactly what we had to give up in order to get there.

I must admit I was so engrossed in the James Kim story a little over a year ago. Every morning I would open up my favorite news site scouring the headlines for anything related to his story. This man was so much a hero in my eyes. When I heard the entire story, I was shocked and saddened by it all.

So when I glanced at Yahoo!’s frontpage today and noticed his name among the top stories, I couldn’t help but be interested. It appears those in James’ wake have found ways to turn this tragedy into a charitable opportunity for those who believe in the things he stood for. The James Kim Technology foundation helps bridge the gap between realized technology experience for the San Francisco public school youth.

The story of James Kim will always break my heart. In my eyes, he will always be a hero.