Coping with Crossflow by Roger Christan Schriner

Many years ago a wise old fellow told me why he was no longer frazzled by Los Angeles traffic. "I stopped obsessing about how I needed to get from Point A to Point B. Instead, I just focused on coping with the crossflow."

By crossflow, he meant anything that slowed him down as he moved toward his destination. Dealing with crossflow no longer felt like an irritating distraction from the task of "getting there." Coping with crossflow WAS his task.

After this shift in attitude, he was less likely to be livid while following a pokey driver or getting stuck behind someone who had double-parked. Why did he feel better? Because defining his task as navigating crossflow helped him expect and accept these obstacles. It was similar to the mind-shift that occurs when a sales clerk realizes, "This customer who wants my attention right now is not a distraction from doing my job. The customer IS my job."

So what does this have to do with Equual Access? Realistically, every time one of us attempts to improve access, we will confront crossflow. In some cases it’s just a simple matter of jumping through procedural hoops to achieve a favorable outcome. But at times the barriers to change can be daunting, discouraging, and depressing.

I am a temporarily-abled equal access ally involved with E.A.’s Right Relations Committee. My professional background includes work in ministry, psychotherapy, and organizational dynamics. Like every minister (and every lay leader), I have lots of experience with crossflow. I know that in local congregations improvements come slowly, sometimes frustratingly so. We need to remember that it’s normal to encounter snags, complications, and sometimes overt resistance.

Obviously the attitudinal shift I’m talking about does not eliminate all stress for change agents, or for drivers in L.A. At times my friend who talked about crossflow would still become irritated by gridlock on Sunset Boulevard. But he was far less frus.trated when he defined crossflow-navigation as his primary task.

I’m planning to write an occasional entry on the E.A. blogsite about coping with crossflow. What glitches, setbacks and pushbacks do UU’s encounter when they work for equal access to congregational activities?

As one example, you may have read the blog entry called "Make your congregations loopy!" What problems might people confront in trying to encourage a local UU group to "loop" its sound system so those with hearing devices can tune in by just flipping a switch?

If you have any ideas about crossflow issues, or if you’d like to share a relevant case study, just post a comment. In October I’ll write more on this topic. Thanks for reading this entry, and good luck with every bit of crossflow that comes your way today.