To: Rick Julian who wrote (32894 ) 3/19/1999 9:55:00 PM From: E Read Replies (2) | Respond to
In my house, I'm the time manager. I do a "time line" whenever we have to be anyplace, at my husband's request-- he has noticed that when he decides what time we shall leave, we arrive late, and when I do, we are punctual. I've figured out why this is, and suspect that it explains a lot of tardiness. My husband estimates everything in 'ideal' time. I build in Real Life factors. He figures that if we have to drive to the city and park, and maybe get a cab from there to our destination, that the time it will take is the best time it could take. It simply doesn't occur to him that sometimes you hit every red light; sometimes traffic is backed up on the bridge; sometimes it's hard to find a parking spot or an open garage; sometimes you even have car trouble. He even miscalculates when telling a publisher when he'll hand in a manuscript. He is always late, because he imagines himself working at a certain rate, but he leaves out of the estimate the fact that sometimes you get the flu, sometimes you have to go to a meeting or have your relatives to dinner or go to Philadelphia for a friend's wedding or you simply have a few unproductive days or decide you don't like what you wrote and have to rewrite the piece. It's so strange to me, and a source of a certain amount of family comedy and eye rolling on my part. This is a very smart man! It is like being tone deaf, or having poor depth perception-- he's time deaf! I think this must be the case with a lot of people.
