but what if???

 Over the last month, off and on, of sorting through lots of paperwork, minutes of various church meetings, old medical records, old tax receipts, etc. I had accumulated quite a lot of paper that needed to be shredded.  I honestly can't imagine why anyone would want to go through my trash looking for info they could use to steal my identity or use my credit cards or whatever the current scam is, but I have been in the habit of shredding lots of documents for many years now.  And I have a sturdy little shredder that will easily shred two or three sheets at a time or even a credit card.  But after the amount of paper I had accumulated over the last month, I knew I needed a better solution, unless I really wanted to spend eight hours a day for a couple of weeks shredding.  I didn't.  But hooray!! Last Monday a message showed up in my email announcing a free shred morning, 9-11, sponsored by my credit union, this Saturday morning.  Well, there was the obvious answer.  I made my plans, crammed all of the paperwork into two large sacks, and was awake before 8:00am, planning to get there early so I wouldn't have to wait in a long line.  What I wasn't planning on was a booming thunderstorm with warnings of 70 mile an hour winds.  Not my favorite kind of weather to drive in.  So I waited 'til things quieted down a little, but I had to head out while it was still raining to get there before they closed.  It was a twenty minutes drive each way, in a steady downpour, and half way there the thought crossed my mind, as negative thoughts will, what if they have cancelled this shredding event?  I was greatly relieved that they were still there and there wasn't a long line, hardly any line at all actually.  The volunteers (probably actually credit union employees with no choice) were milling about in the pouring rain wearing bright green rain parkas and holding umbrellas.  They were very quick about unloading the bags of paperwork and sending me on my way.  So, mission accomplished.  Of course, on the still rainy drive home, the thought flashed through my mind, as negative thoughts will, what if I've just destroyed a paper I really need?  Ah, well.