PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla (WCBS 880)  -- Things Really Do Happen in Threes.
 
Generally, I don't believe in this kind of stuff. When I was at Hofstra, one of my professors, Warren Mintz, told our class how we, as humans, attach stories to events, sometimes to make difficult times seem easier. Dr.Mintz used to say, "There are no truths. Only stories."
 
Last night, I found solace in one of these stories.
 
Interesting day Sunday. I finished my work at Mets camp and called my cousin Sam, who lives about an hour south and west of Port St.Lucie. We made plans to get together, and we met at a mall in the Palm Beach area -- just off of PGA Boulevard.
 
Sam had do some shopping at an art gallery, where I nearly bought some framed prints to ship home. But, since the store is also located in Soho, I decided to save on postage. Instead, I bought a book called "VITAL STATISTICS: An amazing, compendium of factoids, minutiae, and random bits of wisdon" - by Paul Grobman. While most of the information in the book would appear useless to many, for me, it's an encyclopedia of rare information to share, perhaps, one day in a story. Did you know that Mississippi is the state with the least number of dentists per capita? Or, how about how much time the average American spends daily searching for lost things. Four minutes. Here's another: Liklihood that a dollar bill contains traces of cocaine: 80 percent. WHAT??
 
Anyhow, the price of the book was $15.95. Somehow, I was charged only $4.99. I asked if the other books were on sale. The clerk said that he didn't know that this one had been marked down.

Score one for me.
 
Cousin Sam showed me around Palm Beach Island, pointing out the gigantic American flag hanging on Donald Trump's home (apparently it was a big to-do down here -- the flag so large it breaks zoning laws). We drove around an area that Sam told me was "the most wealthy area, per capita in the United States". More factoids.
 
We returned to where we met, and I ran inside the art store to buy a print for my mother, who I'd made plans with to meet for dinner. She had recently had her living room painted, and, a print I got for her years ago no longer looked good (in my opinion!) on the wall. I beat closing time at the store and found that they only had one copy of this framed work. It was mostly blue -- from the sea and the sky, meeting at the horizon in the Tuscan region of Italy. Really capturing. Eye-grabbing and deep, too. Textured. Well worth buying as a gift.
 
The price was only $59. Yet, the clerk couldn't tell if there was a mark on the frame, so she inquired to her manager about a discount. Turns out, no discount was available since the item had already been reduced to $29. WHAT?? Score one for me, again.
 
Things happen in threes, right? What could be next?
 
I drove another 45 minutes south to meet my mother in Boca Raton. We found a restaurant whre she had eaten last week. This was her second time there -- ever. She liked the gift, and we enjoyed our time together. But, I had to get back on the road to Port St.Lucie.
 
Just as I reached the Palm Beach area, traffic on I-95 came to a dead-stop. Then, it started moving ever-slowly. But, it didn't go anywhere fast. It was late, and I was tired, still needing to do a few hours worth of work when I returned to my hotel. Wishing that I had GPS, I called my father who used to live down here, hoping he could give me an alternate route. But, there was nowhere to exit. Eventually, after 25 minutes or so, we came to an accident, and all cars slowly passed in the right lane. No need to find an alternate route. I was cruising again, and to celebrate, instinctively, I cranked up my music and starting to make noise with my mouth. I'd call it singing, but I'm tone-deaf.
 
Twenty miles from Port St.Lucie, I thought I saw red lights approaching. Could it be another accident? I had a chance to exit I-95 in Stuart, but, I didn't want to get lost trying to find my way on local roads. So, instead I got to sit in worse traffic than the first mess. I sang a series of four-letter words and, with a fist, even slammed the steering wheel. I was not happy.
 
Two accidents in less than twenty minutes, not even than fifteen miles apart.
 
My iPod had been playing, but, it was only after I hit the steering wheel that I tuned out traffic and listened to the music. I sang along with Tom Petty on "Breakdown" . . .  "Go ahead, give it to me. Breakdown, it's alright". Then, I realized what I was singing and had a small chuckle.
 
Here it comes. The part about things happening in threes.
 
Tom Petty's "Breakdown" closed out, and next in line in the shuffle of over four thousand songs was "Deja Vu All Over Again", by John Fogerty.
 
Is that poetry, or what?
 
Three sets of two. A triple double! First, the book and the artwork -- both unexplainably cheaper than they were supposed to be. Then, the two accidents. Then, the two songs back-to-back. Breakdown and Deju Vu All Over Again. Man.
 
At the end of the line of traffic was a tractor trailer that was sprawled on its side, contents spread, covering two lanes of the highway, which was closed on the southbound side. As I drove away from the scene, all I could think as I saw traffic backed up for three or so miles the other way was "poor suckers". Still, for all my complaining, I wasn't in either accident.

Driving to the airport to catch my flight home, I was stuck in another traffic jam -- pretty close to where the first one was. I'm convinced that Florida is not only is the worst state to drive in, but, it is also the most dangerous.