Time Won't Wait - I Won't Either!

time (n):
a. ...A continuum in which events occur in ... succession from the past through the present to the future.
b. An interval separating two points on this continuum; a duration
c. A number, as of years, days, or minutes, representing such an interval
d. A similar number representing a specific point on this continuum, reckoned in hours and minutes


'Time, time, time
never ask
what's become of it...'*
* Heart: "Soul of the Sea"   


Back in the cave man days, I don't imagine people worried about time that much, beyond day & night, or the seasons.  It's not like those men were scheduling their life so minutely, "Okay, Dirk, meet me & Bron behind the cave at 12:15 sharp to hunt the saber tooth tiger!"


'Course, odds are that Dirk & Bron & the other guy lived in the same cave, so when it was time for hunting the saber tooth, the other guy could just wander over to get Dirk & Bron & who cares what time it was, really?  Time to eat, that's what time!


It only got tricky when Dirk moved to a cave further down the mountain range.  Now, the saber tooth hunt had to be scheduled.  Now, Dirk & Bron & the other guy (okay, fine, give the guy a name - Kurk).  Sorry.  Now, Dirk & Bron & Kurk had to plan:  "Okay, we meet tomorrow at the tallest fir tree when the sun hits the face of the cliff."


Three guys, well, that probably still works out.  Until one day, when Dirk has to drop his little cave kids at the day care first & gets sidetracked helping the cute day care woman skin a wolverine. Or Bron decides at the last minute that he has to check his rabbit snares.  Where does that leave poor Kurk?  Waiting, all alone under the tallest fir tree, wasting HIS time, because of the thoughtless behavior of two other people!  It's not like Kurk didn't have anything else HE could be doing, right?  And, whenever those two louts decide to show up, they will have all kinds of justifications - "Well, the sun doesn't hit the face of the cliff at the same time at MY cave!", or "What's the problem, Kurk, we're here NOW!"


So, move ahead several thousand years & someone says, hey, the people are all spread out.  The tallest fir tree isn't cutting it any more.  Bring in the pocket watch!


A watch.  A way to measure time.  A way to schedule & plan!  A way for Kurt to know exactly how long he has been kept waiting for Dave, who is at the day care, or Bruce, who is at the butcher's. Now, instead of Kurt wondering if he is early, he can see exactly what time it is.  And how, with every passing visible minute, Kurt can escalate his degree of pissed-off-ness accordingly. "Where have you two been?  I have been waiting here in the plaza for half an hour!"  Kurt will point agitatedly at his watch.  "See my watch?"  Kurt will have the satisfaction of physical proof when he accosts Dave & Bruce about their tardiness.


Like that'll matter.  Dave will whine, "Oh, I don't have a watch." & Bruce will say, "Oops! Look there, I forgot to wind it!"  & poor Kurt stands there, stuck again, listening to other people's excuses, wasting away the minutes & hours of his life, waiting around for other people who can't get their shit together.


(Sorry about the shit, but sometimes a swear word just really works!)


Why should this be?  Why should the one guy who is doing what he said he would do be punished, for being ON TIME, while the other two guys just stroll into the plaza whenever they feel like it?  


I think it's a kind of power play by Dave, as in, "See there, I, Dave, am more important than you, Kurt!. That is why you must wait for me!"  As far as Bruce is concerned, it's more of a habit.  "Why should I hurry?" Bruce thinks, "After all, no matter how late I am that dupe Kurt will still be waiting there!"

I guess it's no secret where my sympathies lie.

I say it's time for the WAIT-ERS of the world to schedule & plan an uprising!  (synchronise our watches, so to speak)  Kurt, wait in the plaza no longer!  Go live your life!  Reclaim all those future lost minutes for your own!

As for you, Kurk, you just tell Dirk & Bron to go hunt that saber tooth tiger by themselves & see how they like that. You can use your new-found time to see if that cute day care woman has any more wolverine skins that she needs help with!

time (n):
...A continuum in which events occur  ... when you (& no one else!) decide that they should occur!  
You are free!!!