Obviously

Sam forwarded me a text from a student claiming he couldn’t turn in an assignment because he’d accidentally set it on fire. The student claimed he couldn’t send his homework as an attachment because the burning paper had set off the sprinkler system, shorting out his laptop.  The text was addressed to ‘Dr. Roker.’

I laughed at the excuse, but texted back asking who Dr. Roker might be.  Sam sent me a laughing emoji with a question mark. I texted back ‘what?’

He texted, ‘Here’s a clue or two. I’m a bald black man who’s lost a ton of weight. I’m obsessed with the weather. I’m about the same age as a certain nationally known weatherman.”

‘Oh,’ I texted back, ‘Roker is your nickname. I guess I missed the obvious.’

Many laughing emoji followed.  ‘Don’t sweat it, we all miss the obvious. I was 300 lbs. before I realized I was addicted to food. Josh is selling everything he owns to gamble and he can’t see it’s an addiction. Cara is too wrapped up in herself to see her marriage is crumbling.’

I spent the rest of the morning thinking about how missing the obvious hurts people, wondering if I was missing something.

Today I’ll try not to miss the obvious.

Dogged Determination ©2018 by Ken Montrose

Dogged Determination is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at: www.greenbriartraining.com https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/