Is There A Toilet Over Your Head?

Naw, it can’t be!  I’m riding my bike downtown early one morning and about ten blocks down the street silhouetted against the sunny blue sky I see this oblong object dangling from a crane on top of a building that’s being constructed. Now when you're riding a bike its a pretty darn good idea to keep your eyes on the road and tune in to everything around you, every car, every intersection, every driveway, etc. I take another quick scan of what’s going on around me at ground level and its all clear. Twenty-five floors above the street this crane is lowering a . . . no . . . it can’t be. I’m totally mesmerized by this obIong object.  I pedal a few blocks closer for confirmation and sure enough, it is. This crane is lowering a portable toilet from the top floor of the building down to the street!   

That’s one of the joys about riding a bike. You see things that otherwise you might miss entirely while enclosed in a car. So I’m zipping along seeing if I can time my arrival to the moment when this overhead outhouse reaches the street level. As I get closer, I see that there are a bunch of construction workers milling around under the descending outhouse, oblivious to what’s dangling over their heads. Sure they’ve got hard hats on, but still. I mean, come on, we all know what’s inside that box swinging a few feet over their heads!

How often do we go through our lives like that?  Not knowing what’s over our heads.  Sometimes we see one thing over our head and we don’t see what else is there.  Viewed from certain angles, a portable toilet over your head can totally block out the sunny blue sky. Sometimes we see the toilet. Sometimes we see the sunny blue sky. 

We all know people with outhouses over their heads. They’re the ones who are living life large in the “I’ve got troubles” lane going down life’s highway. Their problems always trump your problems. Sometimes they dump all their problems on your head. Sometimes they don’t and just suffer in sanctimonious solitude.  

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could see what’s over someone’s head at all times? Like a cartoon bubble that would say, “Back off, now’s not the time. I'm having a toilet over my head day!” Or, “I’m having a sunny blue day! Let’s go have a cup of coffee and tell me about your day!” Of course that might make life too easy, too predictable, too mundane. It’s the challenge of trying to see what’s hanging over someone’s head that makes life and relationships worthwhile.