Commuting to work by public transport can disappoint at first glance. The added time and distance might not be worth the hassle, I know. If that's not enough, the trip can be ruined by greedy seat searchers – to say nothing of someone who blocks the middle seat with a school bag.
Yet I'm unflinching: the best-kept secret of enjoying my train ride is the reading time. This week I traveled to Guangzhou for a conference. Getting there by train takes close to two hours, and that doesn't seem to bother me. The only question for me is what books or magazines to pack.
I was glad to have picked Daniel Gottlieb's Letters to Sam this time. I'd read this book few years back, but I still enjoyed reading it again. As I read the story of this man who has been paralyzed from the neck down (after an automobile accident), I learned great lesson from his struggle with bedsore on his buttocks. The quadriplegic psychologist went to see the doctor, who then examined the skin and said, "It's broken."
"I know," Daniel answered. The doctor had no idea that Daniel was referring to his heart, but not his skin.
"Too much pressure," the doctor explained, meaning his buttocks on a wheelchair all day. "I know," Daniel said, meaning his life.
When the doctor found out the moist wound, he commented on the unhealthy sign, in medical parlance, "It's weeping."
"I know," Daniel gave the same answer. But he wasn't still talking about his wound.
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