Life's little nuisances -- or blessings?

Things do not always go according to plan. Should we be mad, or glad? One writer expresses his opinion. We analyse the argument.

Source: My Paper, 28/5/9, p.A6
Headline: Running late? It might be a blessing
Writer: Geoff Tan

Quote
It was just a simple text message entitled "The Little Things". The piece ... referred to the Sept 11 incident. ... It cited incidents involving "little things" that happened on the morning of the tragedy in 2001 which resulted in the people involved being spared a horrific death -- from an alarm that didn't go off on time, to missing the bus; from a car that wouldn't start, to not being able to flag down a taxi; from having to go back home to change a soiled shirt, to stopping to answer a telephone call. ... The email on "little things" has certainly put a whole new perspective on how I view less-than-perfect circumstances in my daily life. ... The next time I encounter similar situations, I am going to take it that that was where I was meant to be at that time. And to believe that positive outcomes would continue to emerge as a result of the inconveniences.

Comment
The writer is free to "take" and "believe" anything he wishes. The question is: Does the conclusion follow from the reason?

Little things prevented many people from being in the buildings when they were hit and collapsed. Can we then conclude that little (inconvenient)things always lead to blessings -- and thus adopt this as our attitude in life?

A little reflection quickly tells us that little things could also have kept many people in the buildings when they would otherwise have left them. Little things like a car that wouldn't start (in the car park), a soiled shirt (spilt coffee in the office pantry), stopping to answer a telephone call etc.

The same reason is compatible with a different conclusion. Hence, the conclusion does not follow from the reason.

END