Voice in the Wilderness

It isn't every day you hear your name called out on the city streets of New York. This morning I was tuned in and relieved when I heard a yell of, "Hey, Mullen!" It was my friend, Mike.

I actually was expecting to run into him mid-morning as we had a business meeting scheduled in lower Manhattan. That being said, traveling with Mike is always an adventure.

He manages to find his way, but with him there is no truth to the shortest distance between two points being a straight line. There are no straight lines in his world. I've never traveled with him where we started from point A and arrived at point B as outlined on a map. Even when using a GPS system there is always a moment of satellite disconnect - "recalculating directions - please proceed to the highlighted route."

I recall with amazement a 2nd trip we took to San Francisco where Mike pre-printed the directions from our meeting place to the hotel using MapQuest so we wouldn't get lost. We followed the directions with the exception of one slight twist and wound up arriving at the printed address - an empty lot just beneath the Golden Gate Bridge. We were in the right place according to the map, but the hotel itself was on a street of the same name in South San Francisco!

We've been lost together in California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas and beyond. We've even been lost 10 minutes from Mike's house in Pittsburgh - a place he has lived his whole life.

There is an element of adventure to traveling with Mike that is, well....exhilarating. But I really was hoping he'd find me today in New York City before 10 a.m. Some good planning on his part and several prayers to Saint Anthony on my part was the recipe for success.

I better call him tomorrow though; I don't know if he ever made it home.