First, let me extend my apologies for being gone from writing posts for a little while. Life got so busy that I hadn’t realized how much time had gone by.
Actually, time seems to be going by so fast. What I want to get done doesn’t ever seem to get done. My To-Do list just keeps growing even though I’m constantly busy. Anyone else feel that way?
I often feel like a week seems like just a couple days long, then suddenly a month has gone by but feels like only a week, then before I know it a year has passed but it seems like it was only three months long.
The Time-Sucker…
Here’s an example: I ran into yet another time-sucker the other day. I needed a medical test (nothing serious) at the hospital. I had to drive an hour to get there but made it on time.
When I finally found the correct location within the hospital, no one was at the desk to sign me in. There was a clipboard and a sign pointing to a button on the wall. The sign read “Only ring button ONCE. We will hear it. We may be with a patient but we will come for you. Do NOT ring bell twice.”
Being the instruction follower I usually am, I obeyed the sign and rang the bell only once, then took a seat. I was thankful the TV was on the Hallmark Channel instead of news or a soap opera. And I sat and watched.
Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…
Time just kept ticking away. The Hallmark movie finished and another began. I’m thinking, “OK. I like some Hallmark movies but I didn’t come to watch Hallmark movies.” (Did I mention I’ve been the ONLY ONE in the waiting area this whole time? Yep, just me watching Hallmark.)
I’ve now been waiting well over an hour and I’m now going to miss the PTA meeting I had planned to attend.
Point of Decision…
I realize I have to make a decision. I get up, looking around, I cautiously walk up to the sign-in desk. No one. I decide to be disobedient and ring the bell AGAIN, wondering what will happen to me for doing the dreaded ringing TWICE of the bell.
Soon a lady comes and asks what I’m there for. I explain that I’ve waited for over an hour to get my test done. She says that’s not her department and asks me to please take a seat while she calls someone.
Since the chair and I are getting to be very familiar with each other, I go back to my old friend, where I now can hear her side of the telephone conversation, things like, “She says she’s been here for over an hour…I don’t know….She says she rang the bell over an hour ago…Maybe she came while we were having the baby shower.” Yep, they’ve been having a party while my life has been stolen away watching movies.
It’s All My Fault?…
About 15 minutes later, someone comes and calls me back, telling me I should’ve rang the bell again because “We didn’t know you were here.” I’m thinking, “Wait…What??” I explain that I read the instructions and followed them. She reiterates that I should’ve rang it again. I tell her I didn’t realize I should ring it twice when the sign clearly states to ring in only once, not twice. She repeats her defense, smiling the whole time. Never once does she apologize.
Somehow she has now turned it to be MY fault that I waited so long until I disobediently rang the bell a second time so that they would realize a patient was waiting. I suggested maybe they should bring the doorbell receiver with them next time they had a party. (Yeah, I did go there. I was calm, but I had to go there.)
You know what the amazing thing was? Still no apology. She just smiled like she was right and (in her perception) I wrong. Ugh. She was in charge of doing my test. I decided to divert the conversation so that I wouldn’t be “accidentally” misdiagnosed for being “difficult”. (The test went smoothly and the results came back good.)
Anyway, that’s not an unusual day for me! I often…like daily…run into time-suckers. So now you have an idea as to why I’ve been MIA (no disrespect intended) from my site. Sigh.
The Art of Accountability…
I do wonder though… Where has the art of accountability gone? I was raised to apologize if I messed up. So many people nowadays spin things to never be their fault. If there’s a shooter, it’s the gun’s fault. If the hot coffee is hot and the customer spills it and burns themself, it’s somehow the restaurant’s fault for giving them what they ordered. Just non-sense.
Yet when these kinds of things happen, I find myself very thankful for my upbringing, for the ingrained knowledge that my Creator sees all that I do and will hold me accountable if I don’t do it myself. These moments also cause me to strengthen my commitment to make sure I’m raising my little one with accountability.