A few weeks ago, I drove to Conway for a meeting. During the three-hour drive, which began at 6 a.m., I began to become a bit concerned about my ability to remain alert as the sun’s glare penetrated the windshield, straining my eyes and tiring my resolve to stay vigilant. I needn’t have.

Every time I began to worry a little, bump! I was alert. A few minutes later, my resolve weakening again, bump! I was alert. There were a couple of smooth stretches and the road reinitiated its mesmerizing hold, but then, bump! I was alert again.

I simply cannot remember one single long stretch of highway that was not littered with a continuing series of staccato bumps caused by those pesky highway hazards known as potholes.

You know what I’m talking about — those small ‘’failures” in a road’s surface that, if left unrepaired, will continue to increase in size and depth, capable of causing costly damages to vehicles.

Potholes can mess up just about anything on a vehicle — tires, the tie rod, the control arm, wheel alignment, ball joints and the wheels themselves. Repair costs can range anywhere from $50 to hundreds of dollars, depending on the damage. Logic dictates that the more potholes a vehicle hits, the greater the chance that the vehicle will sustain some type of damage.

Since my trip to Conway, I’m noticing potholes like I’ve never noticed them before. They are everywhere, and they are multiplying at an alarmingly high rate. And from what I read in the newspaper, it’s getting more and more difficult to keep up the repair pace that is necessary to keep the roads in good working order.

Most major cities now have “pothole patrols.” Listeners phone in potholes to radio stations. Television stations send reporters out in “pothole posses.” Yet with all this effort, it seems that the potholes still have the upper hand. And now, with growing budget concerns and the fiscal decision-making that accompanies them, pothole repairs are one of the first casualties of scaled-back spending.

They’re only going to get worse.

But consider the idea that potholes do serve a purpose. They serve as signals that roads are beginning to break down. They serve as reminders that maintenance is an important function, a necessary one. They demand that we take notice of them and they beg us to take the time to make repairs so that roads function more efficiently, more safely.

And what about the potholes in life? Those little ‘’failures” in a person’s life, if left unattended and unresolved, will continue to multiply and grow in intensity, capable of causing costly human damage to self and others. Like the holes in the road, there are times in life when it seems like they are everywhere and they are multiplying!

Yet these potholes also serve a purpose. They serve as signals that a life or a relationship may be beginning to break down. They serve as reminders that maintenance is an important one, a necessary one. They demand that we take notice of them and they beg us to take the time to make repairs so that lives and relationships can be whole again.

When we hit those life-size potholes, bump! They jolt us into a state of alertness that invites us to make some crucial decisions. We can ignore their message, but in so doing we give them the opportunity to grow, to multiply, to deepen. We can embrace their message and begin to budget our time and resources to do the repair work that they beg us to do.

Life’s journey is going to be filled with potholes — that’s a fact. But pay attention to their purpose. They challenge us to disregard them or to welcome them, each with its own consequences. Which road are we willing to take?

This column originally appeared June 1, 2003. Harris Murray is director of library services at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College. She can be reached by e-mail at writeharris55@yahoo.com.

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