Minute Man

(post 14)

So, I have this Java Professor. He's a pretty cool guy, and I like him. He also works very much like a clock. He starts speaking at precisely the moment the bell rings and stops at exactly 12:50. Once I got to class 10 minutes early and slipped in the back while he was still teaching a different class. Just for fun I took a glance at the clock and took note of what he was saying. When he reached that point in the lecture in my class the clock said exactly the same time (one hour later) as it had in the previous class. The man is some sort of machine. Today, he had something important he wanted to add at the end of class. It was 12:50 and people were starting to leave. He said, "I'm sorry for keeping you, but I need one more minute of your time." He taught what he needed and then turned to the class and said, "thank you for the extra 58 seconds of your time. I hope you got something out of it." I've never been anywhere when someone actualy ment one minute when they said one minute.

I wonder what the world would be like if everyone could accurately estimate and stick to a time frame. What if "just a second" ment just a second, instead of "just 5 minutes", or if "just a minute" ment 58 seconds rather than "sometime between now and an hour."

A few years ago I saw segments of an 8 hour show from 1989, "Around the World in 80 Days," staring Pierce Brosnan as Phileas Fogg, with Eric Idle as his butler. In it, Phileas is the most punctual and predictable person in the universe. He arives at exactly the time he says and does what he's always done at that time and place, to the point that resturants know when he's coming and what he's eating and have it prepared and set before him as he's entering the doors. He bathes at exactly the same time and expects his water to be precisely 83 degrees.

If life was like that would things be easier or harder? I'd have all my assignments completed and on time. That'd be nice. Aside from that, I'm glad that things are the way they are - though I probably ought to work at making what I say be what I mean...

-Schlange