"Everyone complains of his memory, and no one complains of his judgment."

Francois Duc De La Rochefougauld
Reflections

I need to do a better job of anticipating what lane I want to be in.

I was running late in my drive home from Milwaukee, but I wanted to pick up a book, Life After Television, I had reserved at the University Book Store in Madison.

"Fascinating book," a friend had told me. "The personal computer is going to completely change how we receive information and give us a truly interactive medium. Network TV is going to be less of an influence on our lives during the next 10 years -- great opportunity for those who know how to take advantage of these changes."

I hit most of the stoplights going down East Washington Ave. just right, but then a brief but intense shower slowed the traffic as I approached downtown Madison.

As I turned onto East Johnson, I was thinking about the link between TV and computers and taking my normal route home. But, then I realized I was in the wrong lane for my Lake St. turnoff and the University Book Store. So, I gradually inched my way across three lanes of traffic -- taking chances and trusting the good will of strangers -- in a stop-and-go pattern that covered three blocks.

I pulled into the parking lot behind the University Book Store and decided to use my old, worn crutches instead of my Amigo electric scooter to run into the store to get the book.

Splashing through the pools of water standing in the alley behind the store, I approached the front entrance just in time to take advantage of an offer from a student to hold the door open as I scooted into the familiar entry way of drab concrete. Third floor, I told myself, and approached the elevator.