On Time...

Time.  Time is part of everything we do.  The measurement of it is uniquely human.  A dog may experience time but it’s unlikely to be measured.  Seasons change and behavior runs in cycles but animals are blissfully unaware while people are continually reminded of it.

 

What time is it?  When does my show start?  How old are you?  How fast are you going?  What’s the ETA?  Should I use second day delivery?  When did I get my last haircut?  Is it dinnertime yet?  What time will you be home?  When does the school year end?  When is Happy Hour?  When is that bill due?  What year is that car model?  When does the hockey season begin?  What quarter is this?  Is that the two minute warning?  What was your time in the marathon?  How long does it take to cook a hard-boiled egg and how long before it cools? 

 

Sometimes, it seems ‘like only yesterday’ since we’ve seen someone while years have actually gone by.  When we say ‘slow as molasses’, we’re talking about time, not molasses.  Being consistently late is unacceptable.  But it’s cool when you never appear to be in a hurry.

 

And most working people trade time for money...  What’s the hourly wage?   Is there overtime pay?  How many vacation days per year?  When is the due date?  When is high tide?   When was your last period?  I’m sorry Officer but how fast was I going?  What is my pulse rate?  How long does the music play during Final Jeopardy? 

 

The bottom line of time is that it can only be measured by itself.  You can’t see it or feel it but with altered perception, you can slow it down or speed it up.  You can’t escape it and if you try to, you are just wasting your time.  This is leap year...  but real time will still pass at the same pace.  The first time I smoked pot, time seemed to stand still.  It literally shape-shifted for me and what felt like an hours-long ride home ended when I got in the door and the clock said I was right on time.  This was quite the mystery.  How can time slow down and pass at the same speed simultaneously?  It’s all about perception.  Sanity is being able to distinguish between what we perceive and what we’re expected to perceive. 

 

My first awareness of time was probably when I knew it was dinnertime or time to go to sleep or maybe it was Howdy Doody time.  It took on a different meaning when I started school and discovered the difference between the school year and the summertime.

 

At this point in my life, approaching 70, time seems to be racing like a runaway train on a downhill track, constantly accelerating with no station in sight and with failing brakes that can’t be replaced.  Seasons pass quickly, and today becomes yesterday in the blink of an eye. 

 

So...  where is this going?  Time slows down considerably when you are waiting for the Federal government to decide whether to arrest you or not.  Time becomes the right to a speedy trial if it happens...  and how your charges might fit into the sentencing guidelines...  and, if the worst happens, time served.