After the Fact: Time flies

“I was GOING to do the dishes, but”, “I meant to do that, but”, “When I have a minute,” “If you’d just waited, I would have done that,” “You never told me it needed to be done,” or a million other excuses that could be replaced by “I figured you’d do it before I actually had to get around to it anyway.” It happens in every household and is only further complicated when there are more siblings. “Micki was supposed to do it”, “Lonny forgot about it”, “Steve just left for a week on the river,” “Jami’s still in bed.”

And it’s passed on to the next generation. Or, as my mother would have reminded me, “chickens come home to roost.” We never had chickens, excepting those on our dinner plates, so I don’t know where she learned that. It was probably another of those things that’s passed on to the next generation.

Along this line, there’s also the person (or people) who can never arrive anywhere at a specific time. If they have an appointment for 11:00, you can assume they might be there by 11:15, but it’s usually closer to 11:30. My dad had absolutely ZERO tolerance for anyone who defied his anticipated time for leaving or arriving anywhere. If you were late coming to the dinner table, you might find that your plate, cup, utensils and napkin had all been removed. That you didn’t eat was not, however, an excuse for not washing or drying the dishes (back then, we actually used a dish towel for its intended use). For my sister Micki and me, the only alternative after dinner was whether you washed or dried. Some of our greater schemes for getting out of chores came while standing in front of the kitchen sink. 

I can count on one hand the number of times I have ever been late ANYWHERE. Well, if not actually, then nearly. In the nearly 20 years I worked at the Behavioral Health Center, I could count on two people arriving before me: Larry Ortega, buildings’ manager, arrived anywhere between 4-6 a.m. Brad Wilcox, then business manager, arrived at least before 7, so the three of us would have a “coffee break” together in an otherwise empty building. As the workforce became younger, the hour at which offices were occupied became later. Without including “essential jobs” as teaching and nursing and e.r. people and firemen and our police or sheriff’s officers, it has become an acceptable norm to arrive anywhere between already late and still late.

Somehow, I doubt that being late for a doctor or dental appointment makes a difference.  If you’re still getting ready to go or whether you’re there, the doctor won’t be able to see you for at least 30 minutes. To their credit, the longest I’ve ever waited at the Edward Kennedy Valley Wide was 10 minutes. The only place my younger sister Jami would ever wait over-long is in the beauty salon if she needed a cut. But, then, she also allowed a semi-intoxicated beautician to trim away.

I understand that “sleeping in” on the weekend is a luxury to many who have an 8-5 job or classes during the week, but they miss some world-class sunrises around this Valley.  And the day is short enough during the winter without lopping off the first half with sleeping. As dear ol’ dad used to tell us: “Time flies, but so do opportunities.” It’s amazing the things you can do while everyone else in the house “sleeps in.”  Occasionally, it’s a great opportunity to wash those dishes that were left after dinner the night before. At least we let them dry while just sitting in the dish-drainer.