There was a rock in my mailbox at work. Well, it wasn’t a rock so much as a hunk of concrete about four inches long and two inches deep at one end. It looked like part of a curb from a no-parking zone had broken off somewhere because one side of it was painted red. I should say that like most workplace mailboxes, mine it isn’t a true box, but merely a slot connected to many other slots that are open and accessible to everyone.
I know who had the rock before me. Two of my friends share a slot, and someone had put the rock in it. They asked around to see if there was significance to the rock. Does it mean something, such as “You rock!” Or, with April Fool’s Day quickly approaching, was it there as a prank? They were never able to determine how or why the rock got in their slot, but a day or two later it showed up in mine along with mail that belonged to yet other co-workers. Whomever had sorted the mail apparently misread which slot it should go in. I quickly moved the mail to the appropriate spot, but I now had the problem of what to do with the rock.
This is when I thought, “problems.” We all have problems, large and small. Nuns sang about a problem they had in The Sound of Music, and we all know that the crew of Apollo 13 told Houston that they had a problem. Sometimes we have time to do research and think about how to solve our problems. Sometimes problems arise quickly and need immediate solutions, so we make our best guess and deal with the results afterward. Those of us who are planners spend a lot of time worrying about problems that may never even become problems. We spend our lives playing “if, then” and worry ourselves sick. This is not a good way to live because sometimes we don’t have to do anything, and problems resolve themselves. Sometimes we cause our own problems, sometimes things just happen through no one’s fault, and sometimes people, even our friends, cause us problems. I can picture my friends putting the rock in my slot with both affection for me and a little glee that it would no longer be their problem, then swiping their hands together and thinking, “We took care of that!”
I let the rock sit in my box for a day. I needed time to think about it. I considered simply throwing it away, but then I wondered if there is a real purpose to the rock. Is it someone’s paperweight, a child’s work of art, etc.? It was then that I realized that I had the perfect solution. Maybe, (not really) it was meant for the people whose mail was accidentally put in my slot. I had a great excuse to pass on the rock! It was my turn to place the rock in someone else’s slot with both affection for them and a little glee. I looked down both ends of the hallway when I went so I wouldn’t be seen. I put the rock in their slot and calmly walked away.
Of course, Catholic girl that I am, I felt guilty until I checked the mailboxes a day later and saw that the rock was in another mailbox. It seems that they didn’t want the rock any more than I did. How do you solve a problem like a red rock? Just pass it on.