Leaving Early:
January 27, 2024 was no ordinary day. I had a destination location to reach by 2:30 pm and the program would only last until 4:30 p.m. Betty (Not her real name) teased me when she called me by saying, “I am catching the 1:10 pm bus and then taking the train to Third Ave and 14th Street. Are you ready to leave now?”
Discouraged, I answered, “No, you go ahead, I’ll meet you there.” Do you know the feeling of stress when someone is waiting for you? I was unable to meet Betty’s expectation of being a punctual person. I sighed again over the telephone and reiterated, “Go ahead without me”.
Taking an Alternate Path
Momentarily, my thoughts drifted off to escape from my dilemma of being late. I was thinking about my favorite poet Robert Frost and his famous poem, The Road Not Taken.
I heard my neighbor’s dog bark which brought me back to my hard-core reality of my lack of punctuality in my life. When living in a big city like New York with so many apartments with thin walls, you hear noise all the time from your neighbor’s apartment. That barking dog made me realize that I was daydreaming and I better get a move on if I was going to arrive at all to my event, even if it meant arriving after the designated start time.
I took the same path that Betty had taken earlier. Breathlessly running to catch my bus and then exiting it to enter the same train platform which I knew she had taken to Manhattan. There was a crowd on the platform and I expected that I would have to squeeze into the train car like a sardine bathing in olive oil in order to be one of the lucky ones to get into the train car.
I made it! Upon arriving at Third Avenue and 14th Street, I exited the train station. I stood at the uptown # M-103 bus stop and met up with other friends, Tina and Dolores (Not their real names–they don’t want to be known as a late person like myself).
Common Ground
But the three of us were all going to the same destination. Sharing the common anxiety of arriving late to the 2:30 pm program. It didn’t lessen the queasiness in our stomachs. I visualized walking into the room late and having all eyes upon me. Now, I didn’t feel that bad because there would be 6 pairs of shoes strolling in late and not my two. Suddenly, I was brought back to reality with the ringing of my cell phone. It was Betty. Yes, that Betty who left early. Remember her?
Stark Raving Late
Excitedly, she uttered, “I’m at 37th Street on the bus and we have waited over 30 minutes in the same spot. We are not moving anywhere. Where are you?”
The warning alert of an extraordinary day slapped me in the face like flipping pancakes on a hot griddle. I replied, “I’m at Third Ave. and 14th Street where you told me to meet up with you. I ran into Tina and Dolores and we all are waiting to get on the uptown bus.”
“Well good luck, because you are not going anywhere. I’ve been here for a while and I left early.”
“Yeah, I know you left me because you wanted to be early.”
As a proud fitness walker, I slipped off my shoes and put on my sneakers visualize how I was going to cross the Marathon finish line. Fearlessly, I started to walk to my uptown destination from 14th Street to 50th Street.
The program had promptly started but no one said anything to me about my late arrival.
The Tortoise Beats the Hare
As I looked around the room after the program ended at 4:30 pm I started to feel uneasy as I started to do a headcount.
Do you think Betty was there? Take a guess, my friend.
Nope. Betty was nowhere to be found. She called me on my cell phone later on that night and said, “I was overwhelmed by the turn of events plus I was walking in heels. I had to turn around and go straight home. I couldn’t walk 13 blocks.”
Bragging a bit, I responded, “I was prepared because I laced up my sneakers instead of wearing heels. I arrived late but I got to my destination and you didn’t. Was it worth leaving early?”
Has there ever been a time when being late is better than not arriving at all?
I love to get feedback from my readers. So, drop me a line here. Let me know how this blog inspired you or motivated you to manage your time better. Thanks for participating.
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This thematic blog on time management is adapted from her Revised 2023 English Edition of her novel, Time & Consequences.
M. Lauryn Alexander is a specialist in teaching English to English Language Learners anytime and anywhere virtually. Success Essentials Inc.® is a company that helps people identify, implement and achieve their professional, personal and career goals.
Website: www.EnglishBySE.com
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