Life Is A Lot Like "Yellow Taped Barricades!"

Have you ever wondered who it is that sets up those yellow taped blockades around a worksite? Have you ever wondered where they went to school to learn how to do that job? Well, I wondered about it this morning!


I had to make a quick run to my local Suntrust Bank which I do about twice a month only to discover that work was being done on an adjoining parking lot. Now, I ALWAYS enter the bank from the same direction because I use the "drive-up" window, but not this morning! Yellow tape! Yellow tape everywhere! I made a u-turn and went back to the main road and entered the area from another entrance only to find more yellow tape. So, down behind the Enterprise car rental office I went so I could drive around the front of the bank and make another u-turn into the "drive-up" window. You're right, more yellow tape! Now, remember, they are working on an "adjoining" parking lot, not Suntrust's! By this time I was ready to use my GPS in order to discover a viable route into the bank, but then I remembered I had returned it. Now, the sad part is that I actually had to park my car, unbuckle the seatbelt, get out of my car, walk the fifteen feet to the bank and go inside to do my two minutes worth of banking!


Oh, I'm not done yet! I thought it was my responsibility to solve this dilemma for all of the other Suntrust customers that would be coming and going throughout the day. What do I do? I drove up to one of the guys working in the adjoining parking lot and ask, "Don't you think it would be possible to move those yellow taped barricades just a bit so the Suntrust customers could get into the "drive up" window?" His response? "Sure, we should never have put them there in the first place! Sorry about that! No one else had called it to our attention. I will go right now and move them." I graciously thanked him and drove back to my office feeling like I had just brought resolution to a universal crisis! I felt real good!


You know what? Life is a lot like "yellow taped barricades!" You try one thing and you are barred from success, so you back up and try something else. If there is more yellow tape on that path, you make a u-turn and try again. Even when you get a bit frustrated, you keep on trying!


Sometimes "yellow taped barricades" are nothing more than an obstacle that can be moved or removed with a little patience, kindness, and thought! Not everyone in the world is trying to block your entrance to success. Sometimes it is just someone's thoughtlessness that makes you feel like the world is working against you! Try a little kindness as it works wonders!


I have to go now because it is almost lunchtime and there may be more "yellow taped barricades" for me to conquer!