Now or Never

As I drove to school yesterday, I was listening to Josh Groban the only way I know how: at the top of my lungs. I usually hunch down in my seat to avoid witnesses, but I was in fine spirits, so I rolled down the windows for all to enjoy. I was in the middle of a moving rendition of “Now or Never” (from Groban’s third album, Awake, available at Barnes and Noble and other fine retailers), when I saw something rather intriguing.

In front of me, there was a young Asian man with a huge backpack running along the shoulder of the road with his hands in his pockets. A hundred yards ahead, there was an overweight curly-headed guy in cut-offs running toward the Asian man. I thought I saw a spark between them as they ran toward each other. I belted out, “Oh, darling can’t you see, it’s now or never. It’s now or never,” as they picked up speed and approached what I hoped would be a monumental embrace.

But, for reasons I will never know, the embrace never happened. The Asian guy, hands still in his pockets, ran right past the fat guy, eyes on the horizon. I’m not going to lie: I was disappointed. How cool would that hug have been, with me serenading them as I drove by?

I continued singing, but the song had lost all meaning. In my rear-view mirror I could see the fat guy picking a wedgy as he ran, impervious to the opportunity he had just missed. “And it’s no one’s fault; there’s no black and white…it’s now or never. It’s now or never.”

Maybe they didn’t realize it was now or never. Perhaps they never will.