We are continuously robbed of our time. We often start the day with our time planned from breakfast to dinner with little left for lunch.
Our plans sometimes overtake our abilities. When time is wasted by events not listed in our daily allotment, we are set back.
Say you plan to write a letter to a friend. You sit down with pen in hand and the doorbell rings. It’s the next door neighbor so you politely say, come on in and have a coffee and your invite is accepted. While sitting together drinking, a conversation strikes up and you discuss last night’s news about an incident in the neighborhood. This topic leads to another compelling subject and, oh yes, how about a warm up for your coffee?
After a few coffees and a lot of chatting you finally get back to your letter about an hour and a half later. It was great taking the time to get up to date with the next door friend. You probably had everything planned that you were going to write in your letter. After breaking your line of thought for that long you forgot what it was you wanted to write about.
You lost the time to spend on the letter anyway, so that can go on another day’s list. Oh darn, the dog wants to go out and he might get lost in the snow so you better take him out on his leash. You never realized how much the dog loves the fluffy white stuff and how he enjoys playing in it. Come on, you shout, and drag him inside and dry him off.
Back to the plan for the day. It’s off to the grocery store to find the sale items. The coupons will expire at midnight, and you can save a few bucks. Just as you go out the door, the mailman is there and you chat for a few minutes. You climb in the car, start it up and darn the windshield is all froze up. You get out and scrape it and your hands are about frozen when you get back in.
Now you notice the gas gauge is either froze up too or the tank is on empty. The kids had the car last night so you suspect the latter. When you get to the gas station you see the price dropped a few cents overnight and lines at the pumps are long. You have no idea how low the tank is, so you have to wait in line and hope you don’t run dry. Finally you get to the pump and realize you forgot your gas card. So you tromp through the slush to pay in advance and get your feet wet. Now you are shivering like a branch in the wind, and with all the pumps running the fuel is very slow entering your tank.
Down the road, you go headed to the market. The parking lot is full of slush, and why didn’t you wear your boots you wonder? Lunch time has come and gone, so you grab a bite at Mickeys before you start shopping. A few minutes later, after still chewing on the last bite, you go into the store and grab a cart.
Wait a minute — where is the list? It’s on the table with the gas card and coupons. You decide to grab a few things for supper since that time is rapidly approaching. You can send the kids back to the store after dinner. Don’t forget to remind them to refill the gas tank if they go riding around, which you know they will.
When you get back in the car you notice that traffic is at a standstill and red lights are flashing up ahead. You’re glad it’s just a fender bender and you’re not involved. Wow, look at the time! It’s time to start cooking. Your spouse gets home just as the meal hits the table and spends the next half hour complaining about the day’s work.
Finally, after all dishes are clean, food stored and kids sent off to the store you sit down to watch your favorite TV show. If it’s the same as mine, Shark Tank, you’ll spend much of your time watching the more than 40 ads slipped in between segments.
Yes, I know, when you get out of the chair you wonder: where did all the time go today?
I’ll wonder the same thing, and all I did was write this column.