Did you ever plan to get somewhere in New York City?

My wife and I intended to have a leisurely lunch visit with our cousin in New York City yesterday. That leisurely lunch visit turned out to be 15 minutes long.

SuperShuttle’s confirmation email said I was to catch an 11 a.m. van at JFK, to take us to our cousin on the West Side. My next SuperShuttle connection was to pick us up from our cousin’s place at 1:50. We assumed an hour’s ride from JFK to our cousin on the West Side. We assumed we would have at least an hour and a half to spend with our cousin. Don’t assume, I learned!

The van carried a full load of 10 passengers. Of the 10 passengers, there was a group of 3, a group of 2, my wife and I (group of 2), and 3 individual travelers. That makes 6 stops. The van gets into NYC on the East Side. All but my wife and I, and 1 individual, need to be dropped on the East Side — all over the East Side — traveling in what seemed to be circles to traverse one-way bumper-to-bumper streets. After an hour and a half, I called my cousin. We were in traffic and making many stops, so we would have a shorter lunchtime together. After another half hour, we arrived at my cousin’s place. We left our bags with the doorman, asking him to “buzz” us when the Blue Van arrived. Each of our 15 minutes of lunch together was precious. We ate our cousin’s beautifully prepared lunch while we chatted about our time in Rochester. BUZZZZZ. We were handed a bag-of-goodies-to-go as we headed toward the elevator. Thanks, Lucile!

This morning, from our home in Los Angeles, we called and thanked Lucile, for one very special lunch!

Yes. I should have realized that (1) the SuperShuttle was not so super, and that an 11 a.m. pickup at JFK really meant a 12 noon departure, (2) the West Side drop-offs come last, and (3) the traffic in New York City, especially going in a cross-town direction, is more jammed up than the Los Angeles freeways.

My lesson is clear. Will I remember it, though? Maybe, if I keep in mind this extrapolation to the title of this essay: Man Plans — and G-d Laughs.

I ought to laugh a little, too, the next time I think I can make a perfect plan.

Mr. Ebsen may be contacted at Robertebsen@hotmail.com