Riddle Me This

Lessons in the truly ordinary

Why do trucks turn that way? Why are phone menus so aggravating? What makes Möbius strips work? With plenty of complex and consequential issues to think about every day, you might wonder why these small riddles are worth writing about. I wonder that too, but I can’t seem to help myself.

These questions nag at me. I think I’m supposed to learn something from them, but the messages are so obscure, I can’t even Google them. So, determining they must be riddles to solve, I have pondered them, and I think I’m ready to propose some answers. If you already know the real answers, please don’t laugh. Well, do laugh, but please make it a kind little chuckle and not a derisive snort.

Why do semis have to swing wide on a right turn, taking up a whole extra lane on their left, but don’t have to swing wide on a left turn? It could be a matter of arithmetic, or physics, or driving, none of which I am very good at. And I am embarrassed at how long it took before I actually noticed the phenomenon. It’s amazing I wasn’t crushed like a soda can years ago.

But once I noticed it, I wondered about it every time I saw a turning semi. Then I’d forget why I was going to the store. See my problem?

I’ve now decided that the question of how a semi turns is like the question of how we need to approach the necessary turns and changes and choices in our life.

Some turns are easy. For example, switching from baby carrots-and-hummus to avocado toast is like making a left hand turn: easy and efficient. Takes no extra effort; intrudes on nobody else’s lane.

For other turns, we need more space. When we have to change occupations, leave social media, or end a relationship, we might need some room for error as we find our new path. We should be aware that we’ll be swinging wide when we have to make those turns. We should be aware of others, so they don’t get hurt.

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