SAAB OF T ROY How To Mess Up A Mitzvah e were leav- ing a house of shivah and the street was jammed. It was for a man who had died young and much loved, and the house was filled with GEORGE mourners. CANTOR Cars were parked Reality Check along both sides of the narrow street and there was just room, barely, for one vehicle to get through. We were inching our way along when the car ahead of us came to a dead halt. Since it was a police car, it didn't seem wise to complain. The driver had stopped because someone wanted to talk to him. A man headed for the shivah house had spotted the cop at the wheel and decided this would be an excellent time to hold a long conversation. It must have been incredibly important because it went on for a minute, two minutes, then three. Cars were immobilized up and down the street and on the side streets branching off from it. The man chatted on, appar- ently oblivious to the havoc he was causing. Or indifferent to it. His wife would glance at me occasionally and make helpless little gestures with her hands. As if to say, "I know, I know, but what can I do?" It is a basic tenet of survival not to blow your horn at police cars. They are supposed to stop road rage, not inspire it. But this wasn't really road rage.. This was street seething. Finally, a good five minutes after it began, the conversation ended and the man, with barely a glance at the mess he had caused, continued into the house. It puzzled me. Here was a person on his way to perform one of the primary mitzvot, comforting the bereaved. And on the way, he was telling others, by his actions, that they didn't matter to a big shot like him who had an in with the cops. It seems to happen that way so often. Life gets compartmentalized and in trying to do lots of good over George Cantor, a West Bloomfield resident, is a native Detroiter and longtime Detroit journalist. His e-mail address is gcantor@thejewishnews.corn • here, we manage to spread hurt over there. Parents who get so caught up in their causes-that they leave no time for their children. Businessmen who raise big money for charity and then dance on the far edge of legality to avoid paying taxes that support such programs. Journalists who dedicate themselves to expose wrongdoing and then plagiarize from the Internet. Sure, the episode at the shivah . house was trivial. Still it seems to me that much aggravation in the world is caused by people who are simply oblivious. Not through malice. Not even by intent. Just in a self-absorp- blah blah blah In The State o f I n d ependence, tate o. pportunities are Around Every CORNER. % Financing Up To 60 Months Down Payments for 90 Days ATTENTION GM EMPLOYEES: P.E.P. VEHICLES NOW AVAILABLE! L3` 2004 SAAB 9-3 LINEAR SEDAN GMS MO. 36 mos. $1500 due at signing. Includes first month payment, acquisition fee and transfer plate. 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