The Difference Is Not So Clear Sometimes

Night and Day

Yes, like in the movie, only they spelled Night with a K in the front.

No, I don’t even know what that movie is about other than it stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

But it is true that I want to talk about night and day, or black or white, or light and shadow.

And why you might ask.

Because, I for some reason, got some kind of "realization" about the apparent or the surprisingly not-so apparent differences between night and day.

And it just came out of the blue or shall I say out of the yellow bright sun.

For you see I work at night and I go home at two in the morning. And yes, it is always pretty dark around that time. But today, I had to work the morning shift and I ended up going home at two in the afternoon.

I was using the same car. I was carrying the same briefcase. I was holding the same thermos.

And I was going home at the same time, only instead of in the AM, this time it was in the PM.

I used the same parking level and the same parking space overlooking the same bridge whose silhouette I gawk at night after night after night.

Only today I was seeing it under an almost blinding and warm if not hot (sun)light.

It was stirring to see how that long winding steel bridge looked like under that sun.

Then I realized it wasn’t artificially lighted, well of course there was no need for any additional lighting.

Next thing I noticed was that I was actually able to observe the vehicles that were using it, instead of merely imagining what they look like for before this day, I was only seeing them as moving red taillights or yellowish headlamps, depending if there were northbound or southbound.

Then I entered my car and turned on the AC and put on my sunglasses, which of course I normally do not have to do at two in the morning.

There was just too much light. Too much heat.

And off I went.

Everything is Weirdly Different

After a few meters the next thing I know I was sitting behind the wheel, I was stuck behind a dozen or so idling cars ahead of me, all waiting for a train to pass through our path.

Hmmm, I didn’t even realize trains still use those old rusty rail road tracks a few hundred yards from our job site’s gates. Now I know.

And after that, everything else on my commute home was unexpectedly different.

I seem to see lots of red traffic lights and of course a lot more vehicles on the road.

There were people walking, jogging or biking. I can see and hear birds, flying or sitting everywhere else.

I saw elementary school kids crossing the streets and I had to wait at a stop sign for three of them all strutting at their own leisurely pace and about ten feet apart.

I also had to stop for a mother pushing a baby stroller with a few toddlers walking around her. One teenage high schooler I didn’t wait for, I know, bad form (But somedays, I just couldn't stand it when younger folks who have all the energy in the world for everything else take their sweet time and take all the time in the world when they are crossing the street).

And this particular drive home was already really trying my patience by that time. I just wanted to reach home and go straight to bed.

And then after what looked like at least double the time needed for my normal commute home, I was relieved to finally bring the car into the garage.

I saw our neighbor who was inside her house through her open front window. And I saw the new car of our other neighbor parked in front of his driveway. Both were unfamiliar sights to me.

Walking up to our front door, I was surprised a little bit to see that it was open and my son and my wife were in the living room, awake, snacking and watching a movie.

I got hugs and kisses and his, hellos and how was your day.

And I was asked the question “Are you going to sleep?”

And then I realized, I was instinctively on my way to the bedroom and was indeed probably going to change into my sleeping clothes and going under the covers. We have the kind of blinds and curtains in our room that after you go inside and shut the door, it would feel like it was dark outside even if it was noon.

I then replied, “No.”

I paused, looked around and soaked everything in and was thinking, it feels like I’m in the Twilight Zone.

I mean everything’s topsy-turvy.

It felt like I am being punk’d, except I am not a celebrity and I do not know Ashton Kutcher or more importantly Ashton does not know me. Demi’s a different matter of course.

What’s my point?

The point of the matter is, we all have our normal everyday lives, some live at night, some live by day. Some are used to darkness, some used to daylight, experiencing and knowing things the other group doesn’t and vice-versa.

Some of us have ideas and notions, preconceived or not of what the other knows but without really experiencing it themselves, they would be just as topsy-turvy as I was today.

And we do this all the time, we judge or prejudge other people without ever giving them the benefit of the doubt or getting to know who they really are firsthand or even where they are coming from. We most times assume that all the stereotypes and all the things we hear about a certain group of people are true for everyone else in their group.

And that’s the same when God-believers judge those who do not believe. And it goes the same for when unbelievers judge those who do believe. (And also for those who belong to different faiths).

We might be seeing and living in the same general area, moving around in exactly the same places but our worlds might be as diverse as night and day, even though it is geographically exactly the same. For some of us live in totally different spheres. And most times, the difference is as distinct as black or white. And as such, one should first live in the "world" of the other and then mouth off, if they ever want to, but not before.

What do you think?

Hub Number: #013

Date: 2010-Mar-30

Next Hub: http://hubpages.com/hub/Real-Meaning-Of-Easter