Every person has their own distinct habits while thinking. Some may tie up their hair with a ribbon while some may even perform yoga. Habits such as these are crucial as they provide the best situation for the mind can work optimally to solve problems.
For Jack, his habit was one that was peculiar out of many. To properly think, he needed a car. It was mainly due to the large amount of time he spent sitting in a car throughout his childhood. He was the only child in his family, therefore his parents made him follow them wherever they went for fear of unknown danger of leaving an unsupervised child home alone. With nothing to do but stare out of the car onto the road as well as the scenery beyond and think quietly by himself, it was then that the habit sprouted. It seemed the monotonous roadside view became all too familiar over the years and that gave his mind temporary peace. His father also drove slow naturally, therefore making it calmer for him to think. His mind then grew accustomed to such state that he worked best in it.
And the habit remained until he reached adulthood.
He used to ask his father to drive him whenever he couldn’t think straight but ever since his father passed away due to cancer when he was sixteen, his mother had done it in his stead. Opposite to his father, his mother drove fast naturally and sped whenever she could. Oftentimes he persuaded his mother to drive slowly, but he could safely say that out of four times, she only drove within his comfortable speed range one time. Only when he finally obtained his driving licence did he achieve pure peace while sitting in a car ever since his father left.
It was a dark and a cloudy afternoon when Jack climbed into his car, repeating his habit of many years, and drove on to think. He was frustrated with the problem he had at work, especially the one where a flower nursery owner refused to give up their land to his company for the development plan he and his team were assigned to. His higher-ups had been nagging at him to ‘finish it off’ quickly so that construction works could begin.
He took the highway towards North with no destination in mind. He kept the car at a steady 60 km/h, keeping left at all times. His right hand held the steering wheel while his left went to the air conditioner controller, blasting its settings to the max. Still feeling warm, Jack directed the cool air towards him. His hand moved to loosen his already loose tie and went to massage his temples. He sighed with a frown.
There was another pressing issue at the back of his mind. Jack had been too stupidly engaged in his work that he had lost track of time. He had not even realised that tomorrow was his beloved mother’s birthday! He had only remembered when his mother called him on Friday nights, asking about his well-being, and, as always, if he had any thought of reconciling with his wife.
It had been two years since they had divorced. He and his wife had both been workaholics in their respective fields; his spouse a journalist at a big newspaper company and him an employee in a successful land developer.
Jack first met his wife in the central headquarter building of his company. She came by to interview one of the higher-ups in the company’s organisations for a newspaper article about its achievements in developing many rural areas effectively to become well planned, community and environmentally friendly townships.
He had met her in an elevator when she had pointed out how rude some men were for disregarding a cleaner due to the nature of her occupation. She also threw some nasty comments at them, which made the atmosphere in the elevator awkward and uncomfortable until the men left. Jack was captivated by her courage to fight against total strangers without caring about unknown terrible consequences that might follow. He then met her several times, dated her for a few months, and finally tied the knot after a year.
But their marriage didn’t last long. Neither had remained home for long for both always went out to obtain success in their career lives. And if they did remain in the same room they would bicker endlessly till one of the two decided to sleep in the living room where most of the time it would be Jack. After three whole depressing years, the couple finally decided to end their relationship with each other once and for all. His mother was greatly grieved by their separation and persuaded both parties to remain in contact at least, which Jack knew his mother would think they would reconcile if they did. But it didn’t work, and for the two years that followed they never met each other again.
But it was not the usual talk of his ruined marriage that reminded him about the important date in his mother’s life; it was the preceding line.
“You do remember that it’s my birthday on Sunday, right?”
Trying to cover up his irresponsible behaviour, he lied that he did.
“Of course, mom!” he exclaimed with a plastic smile on his face. “I even bought you the best present ever!” He mentally knocked his head a hundred times for saying it nonchalantly. What in the world would he get her? When he got his first pay, Jack bought her an expensive perfume that only people living in the lap of luxury would use. But his mother had frowned and said she would never spray it nor open its box, adding that he and his father was exactly the same. Unable to understand her true intentions on refusing the gift, Jack thought she was worried that he bought it out of the measly pay he had. But every present he bought after that was also not appreciated as the first one. What had he done wrong?
His mother then told him on the phone not to buy anything for her that year and said, “You being here with me on Sunday would be more than enough.”
But Jack did not approve of her statement. He had to buy something for her. How could he repay his lifelong debt for raising him to her if not through presents? He felt obliged to give at least something to repay a tiny bit of her love to him. If he could, he wanted to give all his fortune to his mother.
His mind was greatly troubled ever since, often thinking on what present to buy for her. So far, he had bought her everything; a watch, a handbag, a dress, a brand new television– just name it. And at that moment, he was out of ideas.
He thought hard on what to buy while driving, but after half an hour it was clear his efforts bore no fruit. Therefore, he just pushed it aside for a while and focused on solving the other major problem. The one involving that stubborn nursery.
He signalled to the left and stopped his car at the roadside, taking out his phone to request the address of that nursery from one of the staff in his team. A minute later, a message came in. The staff had typed in the address and asked why he needed it. Ignoring the enquiry, he typed the address into his GPS navigation and once the directions appeared on the screen, Jack set off to his destination.
