It makes me happy when I see people broken down on that side of the road that look like they are glad to be there. As if they have been saved from their destination to drudgery.
Maybe a car full of teenagers that really didn't want to go home anyway and have been granted unexpected and cherished minutes of independence to hang with their friends.
Or a group of workers on their way to the site in the company truck. They sit on the bed of the truck and drink a beer, smoke and laugh. Today wont be so bad after all...
It's the little things I guess.
You are in a hurry and on your way to some destination that you CANNOT be late to. Time has not been on your side and at the moment, right before it happens, you are focused on the drudgery of your day/life. You are NOT in a good mood.
Then calamity. Snap, bang, sizzle-whatever.
And you realize you are stuck. You aren't going anywhere. That all so important destination doesn't look so important anymore as you are trapped and cars are whizzing by. There is no way you will be on time (or relatively close) to work or wherever.
However, circumstances being completely out of your control, you have no alternative than to just "chill out". So you sit and wait. Nowhere to go, nothing to do but sit.
And here is where it gets fun. Slowly, you begin to realize how long it has been since you have been forced to relax. Maybe you also realize, that the world wont end if something goes wrong/forces you to give in. Eventually someone shows up to help. Maybe it is a friend, or family member you weren’t expecting to see for a while, but were forced to call for help. Perhaps you realize then that it is awfully good to see them unexpectedly at 9:00 am rather than your boss's ugly mug. And you are grateful.
As you head back to the routine, you feel lucky to have people you can count on.
You have had time to put things in perspective and you realize no matter what the case, any break in routine is better than the same ol drudgery.
And you have been blessed.