at 5:00pm, my 2-year old daughter was playing doctor with a toy stethoscope. At 5:10pm, the stethoscope turned into some sort of medieval weapon Charles Bronson Death Wish slungshot. I asked her to stop. At 5:14pm, she hit her older brother in the face. It was on purpose and for the thrill of it.

I snatched the stethoscope, cut the cord with a pair of scissors, and threw the thing in the garbage. My daughter shrieked and wailed and rolled on the floor.

At 8:30pm, when everyone was finally asleep and the house was quiet, I felt the not insignificant weight of remorse. A bad papa. No, worse: a bad papa on Father's Day.

In Amazon, I found a doctor's kit for toddlers (including a stethoscope). Added the kit to the cart. When I hit "buy", a message appeared.

add $15.06 in purchases and have your order delivered overnight

This stupid message affected me. I couldn't simply place my order and wait for the doctor kit to arrive in two days. A little perplexed about this, I decided to go out on a 30-minute run.

It was dark but warm outside. I looked for something to listen to. I found podcast with commentary on Emerson's essay On Self Reliance.

I loved it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson as a filler to obtain overnight delivery

When I got back home, I knew exactly what I wanted: the essays of Emerson.

The price was unbelievable: $20.90 for a hardcover edition of The Library of America, brand new.

So, there it was. Emerson filled the remaining $15.06 needed on top of the cheap plastic pretend play doctor kit.

Then I wondered, and still do:

How is it possible that such an occurrence could, you know, occur in this world?