One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein had a theory about the relationship between space and time. As I understand it, he theorized that a cataclysmic event in space, affects time. In 2016, scientists have now discovered that his theory is correct, and according to Einstein, “Time is an illusion.” I guess it’s all relative. If you want a better explanation, just go ask your neighborhood physicist.
My friend Fay had no problems understanding Einstein’s theory, because when she turned 86, she said, “I don’t like being on the dark side of 85.” So let’s take a look at how we treat time.
When I was invited to talk to a group of 15-year-old students, I gave a folded piece of paper to one of the boys in the front row, and asked him to hold it for me. On it, I had written “9:00am”. At 9:30am, I said, “I’d like to have that back, please.” He handed me the note. I looked at it, handed it back to him and said, “This is not what I want. I’d like to have it back, please.” Again, he tried to hand me the note, which I refused. By this time, the whole class knew what I had written on the note, and finally someone said, “She doesn’t want the note. She wants the time back.” I made my point. 9a.m was gone forever (as are the moments you took to begin to read this story).
It’s pretty obvious that there’s no time like the present, and when someone says, “I don’t have time for this,” he obviously means, “I don’t want to do it.” A small child cannot be expected to have any concept of time. When she’s hungry, it’s time to eat. When she’s sad, it’s time to cry, and when she’s tired it’s naptime. However, naughty means, “Time Out!” That is, of course, as imprecise as a mechanical phone voice that says, “Your call is important to us. Someone will be with you shortly.”
When my son was away at college, I ran into his nursery school teacher. She said, “I can finally tell you about Josh’s first day at nursery school.” She told me that Josh had pulled his little chair into the middle of the room and stared at the clock waiting for me to pick him up. And that was before he had learned to tell time. However, just like Einstein, he sensed that a cataclysmic event like nursery school had to have a relationship with time.
Benjamin Franklin said, “Lost time is never found again.” One day, while strolling down Michigan Avenue in Chicago, a brash young man shouted at my husband, “Hey, You got the time?” My husband looked at his watch, and shouted back, “Yes, I do!” and we continued our little stroll.
Time can be a noun or a verb. You can save time or enjoy it. However, if you wait for the right time, you just may miss it. According to Jean-Paul Sartre, “Three o’clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do.”
Often people will tell you that time will heal a broken leg or that time will heal a broken heart. And, Andy Rooney found that, “It’s paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn’t appeal to anyone.”
Often, time is something we want more of, but something we don’t use well. However, Steven Wright comforts with these words, “The sooner you fall behind, the more time you’ll have to catch up.”
Esther Blumenfeld (“Be back in 10 minutes.” But I won’t tell you from when.)