Chapter 4 Good 7 Bad 1

The next morning, after Marina had told Tom everything about her day, Tom made his usual trip to work in London. He drove to Cambridge station and found a table all to himself on the 8.35 train to London. He was worried that someone would arrive and sit opposite. This would leave Tom no room for his mobile phone, his laptop computer and his Financial Times, or his cappuccino from the French Cafe at the station.

But then the train left the station and he could relax. A table all to himself. This was a good start to the day. He should write this down immediately. He took out the small notebook he kept in his jacket pocket and opened it.

This was his 'Good and Bad book'. In this book he wrote down all the good and all the bad things that happened to him every day of his life. At the end of the day he could see what kind of day it really had been. If there were more good things than bad things, it was a good day. If there were more bad than good things, it was a bad day. Easy. Before he was married, a girlfriend had once asked him:

'What happens if you have one good thing and seven bad things, but the one good thing is really wonderful, and the seven bad things are really not important? Wouldn't that be a good day then?'

Tom had thought about that for a while, but not for too long. He really did not think he would be with this girlfriend much longer anyway, so he did not want to waste time.

'That would make it too difficult,' he said, 'and anyway, if something wonderful happens to you then everything you do that day is wonderful. So you write down lots more good things, because everything seems good to you. Like when you are in love, you know, and everything seems wonderful.'

He had sat back and smiled when he said that. He was pleased with his answer. He liked the middle part of his answer. He thought it was very intelligent. He thought it might even be true, which was another good thing. He was not so happy about the last part. When he had started talking about love he realised that his girlfriend began to smile at him. It was a really wide and open smile and then she took his hand. She looked at him with eyes that were impossibly big and said, 'Oh Tom!' She thought he was talking about them! About him and her, about them being in love.

Tom shook his head as he remembered all this. The picture of his girlfriend's face disappeared. Well, they had stopped going out soon after that. They just did not understand each other.

He came back to the present and looked at his notebook. He wrote the date at the top of an empty page and drew a big thick line down the middle of the page from top to bottom. On the left side he wrote 'Good' at the top of the page and on the other side he wrote 'Bad'. Then he wrote:

Seat and table to rnysetf on 8.35 train to London.

Under 'Good', of course. He smiled, looked out of the window, smiled again and then looked back at the notebook at what he had written the day before.

There were seven things under 'Good' and only one thing under 'Bad'.

He looked at them.

Good

Found a good place to park the car

Finished my report

3Gave my report to the boss BEFORE BRIAN DID!!!

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 764