Small Victories

After being given a huge stack of exams to grade for a professor from the program I realized they were too many to fit in my bag (a messenger bag). I had to get a couple of huge rubber bands and a small plastic bag to put them all in and wrap them up. Everything was fine until it was time to go home. Errr...I had to get on my bicycle and pedal uphill with the stupid plastic bag. Needless to say, my own bag was really heavy, as I was already carrying my laptop and four thick textbooks.
Off I went wobbling and swirving up Chase Hill Blvd (oh, did I mention only my front brakes work on my bike -i.e., I can only break with my left hand?), steering with my left, which is my stupid hand as I am right handed, and trying to not get hit by a car. More than once I envisioned myself on the pavement, with exams flying all over the street and being dragged by the small wind currents created by cars speeding down the nearby highway. I had to stop.
Think, Juan Pablo, think.
I took off my sweater, threw the exams inside and tied up the sleeves really tight around the giant stack of papers (I'm talking about 400 or 500 pages). I then slid the sleeves through the steering and left the package resting against the front of the bike, almost where a bike basket would have gone - hey, there are limits to my dorkiness, I am not buying a bicycle basket!-
Anyhow, I still had several hunderd yards to go and I made it comfortably and safely all the way home. I regained my balance and my wobbliness was gone too. But most importantly, right after I got on the bike the second time, the small victory of reason over a stupid stack of paper made me feel very good with myself, I had that feeling of..."he saw his bundle of papers tied with a sweater to the front of his bike, and it was good".