Ultimate Destination

Friday was a mixed day. I was a little bit absent minded, as I was seeing great visions. I went to interview an internship candidate at a Starbucks. I arrived a little early. I asked the barista how his day is going. He said not so well. I quickly offered him to swap his job with mine. First telling him that I am a CEO of a major corporation and I would love his job as he has so much contact with people. Then I corrected myself, telling him that I am a struggling entrepreneur and I love working towards the purpose of my life. There was a guy that I had interviewed before; Recently, he gave me a contact in Boeing. Strange.. but he seems to be a great guy. He bought with him Fedrick Miles, a very handsome young black gentleman. I recorded his interview on camera and encouraged him to work for me for FREE. I told him just like he does not get paid to go to church, he can create a documentary for me for FREE and fulfill his passion for film and music. For some reason, I decided to tell them the secret of my life. I told them that I am seeing the "Impossible Dream".

I had an appointment with my doctor and my wife and I went to see him. While waiting, there were two women who were having an argument about their insurance. One of them was taking deep breaths and almost crying. I was reading a magazine and deep down inside, I wanted to help. But I was helpless, as I knew if I tried to help her, my wife would intervene. After a few minutes, I got up and tried to talk to this woman. My wife and I had a small argument. I told her that I have a bigger purpose in my life and I termed her as selfish. Then I apologized to her for hurting her feelings.

The next day, we had an open house, as our home is up for sale and we needed to leave the house for a while. I had suggested that we go to the Carter Center and King Center. However, my wife didn’t want to go to either of them. I told her that we could go to The World of Coca Cola and then she was excited. We went to Avondale MARTA station, once again I was feeling joyful. I saw an American man doing work and I smiled at him. At the vending machine, I was a little disappointed about the daily MARTA pass being $8 and worried about how employees with lower wages can survive. While waiting for the train, I got an idea..I told my wife that I will buy a house in good location and not so good neighborhood. I told her that I am confident that I can improve the neighborhood and increase house values.

We arrived at King Memorial Station and I was figuring out how to go the King Center, when an young black man gave us directions. Then he politely asked for some money for food. I asked him if he could work, while my wife was brushing him off. As I was talking to him, my wife was losing patience with me and was mad. I apologized to him and I was again mad at my wife but maintained calmness. My wife doubted his directions, but I followed them and reached the King Center. The first thing I noticed was that the gift store where I had shared the beef burger was closed. I was disappointed. My wife was in a hurry and was upset with me as I was making eye contact and smiling at people.

After seeing the King memorial, We decided to walk to the World of Coca Cola. I was smiling at everyone and enjoying the beauty while she was asking me repeatedly where is World of Coke. I remember seeing a black party and wanted to go and talk to them, but restrained myself from it. As we reached Woodruff Park, we saw a festive occasion with some stalls. I had forgotten to take money and only had three dollars left. I knew that it is cash and carry in most stalls yet approached some young girls, saying that I will pay them back. The girls were thinking when an older man brushed us off telling us that there was an ATM close by. We found there was none.

I saw a campaign against alcoholism and I was talking to someone when my wife lost her patience. I was telling her that having money was a temporary thing and that you may be in a strange city in a third world country with no money and the credit card won’t work. I told her that the technology exist so that through your mobile, you could pay someone and they can check the payment using their mobile.

As we walked to the World of Coke, we saw a big festival at Centennial park. I recorded many children playing in the water fountain with my video camera. We walked and saw someone sponsored by the Statefarm insurance standing to take pictures. As we were posing for the picture, I asked the woman having a young child if I can hold her child to take a picture with my wife and myself. My wife went ballistic. She was impatiently asking for the World of Coca Cola and I took her there. As we stood in line, I was able to communicate with perfect strangers. After we bought the ticket, we had to wait more than one hour. I was able to communicate with my wife on a personal level yet a little disappointed as I was not allowed to talk to the strangers or smile at them. We had great fun at the World of Coke. I was telling her that I would like Thumbs Up as a name for a soft drink. I liked the name Thumbs Up because it symbolizes the spirit of victory. Afterwards, my wife wanted to go to the CNN center.

On our way to the CNN center I saw a Van with King Dream Center painted on it and I wanted to talk to the driver. I also wanted to take a photograph of a white young girl carrying a black baby of couple of years but my wife stopped me. We went to the CNN center and saw an amateur shooting that I still remember. We decided not to wait for the 5:45pm tour and walked back to the MARTA station. There was a MARTA train waiting, but I had to wait for my wife and I missed the train. I told my wife that sometimes if you have to wait for other people, you will miss the train. I gave her an example, if you focus on the educated privileged section of society, we can easily go farther than if you have to wait for less privileged people. But it is all worth it. I also mentioned how on Indian trains people share food, hold each other’s babies and pass 30 hour long journeys. We entered to a very crowded train. After sometime, there were few people on the train. I asked my wife, what does that tell you? I explained to her that in life, people will come and go., but at the end of the life train, you will be the only person left to go to your ultimate destination.