Oh, Wasted Time! Sweet, Wasted Time!

I've realized over the past few weeks, that moving to a new place and learning the ropes inherently leads to wasting time.  Lots of it.  For example: going to downtown Ann Arbor to make a quick stop at my English department mailbox.  How long to you think something like that would take? Here was my initial estimate:


Drive to campus: 5 minutes
Find parking and park: 5-10 minutes
Walk to Angell Hall and take elevator to 3rd floor (English Department): 5-8 minutes
Check mailbox: 2 minutes. 


So at most, this little excursion was supposed to take me 25 minutes.  Instead, it happened like this:


Drive to campus.  Dodge a flood undergraduate pedestrians as if playing a real-life video game.  Get significantly delayed at two big downtown intersections while waiting for droves of pedestrians to cross the street.  Think to self, "Do these kids have a death wish?"  (I mean, I'm happy to stop for a pedestrian anytime!  Of course!  But when they literally step out right in front of my Jeep -- which is not a small car -- it makes me think that they got called out in class for not doing the assigned reading, or are feeling embarrassed about some poor alcohol-induced sexual decision they made the night before -- and are trying to put their misery to rest on the grill of my car.)  Actual Elapsed Time: 18 minutes


Find Parking and Park: Yes, there were several parking spots.  Yes, I tried to parallel park in them.  But yes, I have anxiety about parallel parking when I know that 30 people are watching me do so.  It's unnerving.  My judgment and depth perception go out the window.  And I am forced to look for a spot in a more unpopulated area that is at least three-times the length of my vehicle: 28 minutes. 


Walk to Angell Hall and Take Elevator to 3rd floor: As I said, parked pretty far from my intended destination.  The elevator ride went smoothly, though: 15 minutes.  


Check mailbox (and say hello to anyone I might see during my journey): 5 minutes.  


TOTAL TIME: 1 hour and 6 minutes.  To. check. my. mailbox.  And no, there was nothing that important in it. 


Example #2 of wasting sweet time: 
In my Asian studies class, the professor puts all of the required texts in the "Reserve" section of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library.  This is good for me, because I don't want to buy all of these textbooks. (Some of them are really interesting and will definitely help inform my writing -- others are way over my head and discuss topics I'm not that invested in learning about right now.)  So I get everything from the Reserves to do the class readings.  


This is how the Reserves work: You can take the books out for 4 hours at a time.  (This is because there is oftentimes only one copy available -- and other students may need it.  Sharing: important to learning.  And if students don't bring the materials back on time, there is a $1 for every 15 minutes overdue.  That adds up!) So,  if you get there and someone else has the book you need, the circulation desk can tell you exactly when it is due back -- and it is usually back at the appropriate time. What an efficient process!  I love efficiency!  So I am very fond of this system.... until I realized how it is possible for me to screw it up.  


I needed to get a book titled "One Way Or Another: Asian American Art Now."  The book had been checked out, but the friendly young librarian informs me that it will be returned in less than an hour.  40 minutes to be exact.  Nice.  I can read a book and run to the restroom -- and the book I need should be back in that time.  In a perfect world, that is how it should go.


Instead, I plop down on a cushy library chair and pull out "The Portrait of a Lady."  This is my second attempt to read this book.  No disrespect, Henry James, but this shit it BORING.  It's the only book on my required reading list that I've truly detested.  (So far, it's basically about this really bright, beautiful, high-society woman... and how too many charming, educated men are in love with her.....Zzzzzz....)  My eyelids grow heavy even while writing about it.  I know it's supposed to get better toward the middle -- but I cannot make it there!  Anyway, I start reading this book again.  And guess what happens?  Yes.  I fall asleep in the cushy chair.  Now, mind you -- I chose a chair right in front of the circulation desk so that I could keep an eye out for any of my classmates who might be returning the book.  And, I assumed that when the book arrived, the librarian would let me know. 


I slept for almost a whole hour.   I woke up.  Checked my watch.  Looked up at the circulation desk.  The librarian smiles at me warmly, as if saying, "Oh, good morning, library napper!"  


I walk up to the desk.  "Hi, I think my book should be back now."  I hand her the call number that I've scrawled onto a sheet of paper.
"Oh.  Yes."  She smiles again, this time nervously.  "Well, it was returned on time.  But, you were asleep.  I wasn't sure if I should wake you up.  And..."
I started to laugh and almost simultaneously we said, "Someone else checked it out."
"Yes" she continued.  "While you were sleeping.  But it will be back in.... 3 hours and 44 minutes." 


Oh, sweet time, wasted.  I gather my things and walk to my distantly-parked car.  I shall try again another day.  


-NL