Late Again…Not if I can help it.
It is not that hard to on time. At least for me, it isn’t. If you tell me that I’m supposed to be somewhere at 10:00, I’ll make sure that I’m there by 9:55. I have to be honest that I’m not always exactly on time. There are times when I arrive later than expected. But there is usually an excuse for that. Actually there is always an excuse for that, sometimes real, sometimes made up.
The problem arises when I’m the one expecting someone else to meet me or be somewhere at a certain time. Inevitably, they are always late. Does it bother me? Not really. The first time they are late, I accept it as an aberration. But if it continues and a pattern develops, it becomes a known occurrence, and I just expect it. In fact, when they do show up on time, it can be somewhat flustering, since now I’m not prepared, as I was expecting them to be late.
When I was growing up, my father was always ready well ahead of the time we needed to be ready to go visiting or traveling, whereas my mother was not. How I know this, was because of constant reminders that were heard from father, every time we had to go somewhere, never in a quiet, calm voice.
Thankfully, though I like to be where I’m supposed to be when I’m supposed to be, I have not inherited my father’s demeanor when someone else is not as prompt as I am. I just wait. I have all those reminders and conversations he may have had in my head, rather than out loud. You can only do what you can do.
That being all said, I have to admit that some of what I ascribe to as being prompt is not totally true.
I suffer from a condition known as “Brain Freeze”. I may know what I have to do to get ready for where I have to be, but there are times when my mind just goes off into another direction, sort of like a living daydream. “What was that dream I had last night?” “Look at the bird on the bird feeder.” “Was I supposed to be at a writing group today?” “It’s a good time to watch the next episode of ‘The Flash’”. You know those kinds of thought paths.
Luckily for me, I live with my personal Brain Defroster. She is usually around to get me back on the right track and back into my promptness mode.
And then there are my other guides, like now when time is up and I must read what I’ve just written that keep me from being late.
And so it is…“It is not that hard to be on time.”
