It was a dreary Monday morning and Kate knew as soon as she checked the time on her car's dashboard that she was going to be late. Backing quickly out of the driveway, she hit one of the presets for the radio. Preoccupied with her panic about being late, she had no time to fiddle with the dial and change the station from an unfamiliar talk radio program.
Her main focus was driving. It was her first day of internship and arriving late would make it seem as though she didn't care. As the man on the radio show continued to drone on about how his viewers should "focus on his voice" or some nonsense, Kate didn't have time to focus on anything except for driving and thinking about what her day might have in store for her. The man talking was nothing more than background noise.
First of all, she did not look as well as she should have for her first day of internship. The pants she wore were two sizes too large, the thin blouse she wore was wrinkled, and her makeup was nonexistent. Not only that, but her hair was thrown up in a semi-damp ponytail as well. Though the radio host was now talking in the background about how "clothing doesn't matter", Kate was still self conscious about the way she looked.
Something else plaguing her mind was everything she needed to do that day. The list could have been a mile long if she bothered to write it down, but for now she only had time to go over everything in her head. She had emails to return, plans to finish, copies to run, meetings to attend, paperwork to fill out, calls to make... In the background the man on the radio was saying something about needing to "just relax". Kate thought that perhaps this man was right, as she took a deep breath to calm down her racing thoughts.
After a few minutes of driving 10 miles over the speed limit and trying to calm down, she realized she didn't have to be in a hurry. She realized that driving unsafely was no way to get to where she needed to be, and she would just get there when she got there. Her supervisors would forgive her for being a few minutes late.
Going at a reasonable speed now and having the talk show host's soothing voice in the background, Kate had time to focus on something more calming. It would do her no good rushing into work like a chicken with her head cut off. She needed to remain cool and collected, and make it seem like she knew what she was doing. If she could be extra productive that day, it might make up for her lateness. The man on the radio said something about "following orders" and although she wasn't paying attention to his rambling, she agreed that as long as she followed orders today would go smoothly.