Time has a schedule.
We think that Time is our schedule, but really, we are Time’s schedule.
It’s a strict schedule, all planned out and perfectly paced. There are no re-dos, no re-takes, and–we’re sorry if this disappoints you–there no replays. End of sentence and end of discussion. Time cannot slow down just because you want to ‘stop and smell the dang roses’. Time cannot speed up because you want to get the heck out of summer school.

It’s easy, it’s simple and it’s logical. Without it, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Let’s use an example of Time, shall we?

At exactly two o’ six pm on March fifth–not March fourth or March sixth, March fifth–Charlie Vanconver will be exactly sixty seven years old. On that very same Sunday, Charlie Vanconver’s daughter, Rebecca, will give birth to her own child. And at precisely two fourteen pm, exactly eight minutes after the Space Time Continuum has dubbed Charlie Vanconver of the age of sixty seven, Charlie Vanconver will have a heart attack.

At the same moment Charlie Vanconver, who had just eight minutes ago had been dubbed the age of sixty seven, is having a heart attack, his best friend, Jonny Caparzio, will use the spare key to unlock the front door of Charlie Vanconver’s apartment to bring his friend the newspaper like he does every Sunday. Jonny will see his best friend on the floor, call 911, and in accurately four minutes an ambulance will come to bring Charlie to the Saint Peter’s Hospital where Rebecca is about ten minutes away from giving birth to her child.

It will now be two twenty two o’clock. The doctors are wheeling Charlie Vanconver into the Emergency Room. Dr. Mitchel Kemble will tell Jonny Caparzio that there may not be any hope for Charlie Vanconver. Jonny Caparzio will watch his best friend get wheeled away and turn around only to see Rebecca getting pushed in a wheelchair off to deliver her child. Dr. Mitchel Kemble, who was supposed to deliver Rebecca’s baby, will be caught up in trying to help Rebecca’s father.

Its two twenty seven now. The staff at the Saint Peter’s Hospital will be short on doctors that Sunday, March fifth. Jonny Caparzio will see how distressed Rebecca, his God-daughter, is and volunteer to deliver her baby.

Two twenty eight, Rebecca will have already gone into labor. Jonny Caparzio has never delivered a child before and he was about to deliver one. He is freaking out. The nurses are trying to calm both him and Rebecca down.

Two twenty nine: Charlie Vanconver is on the verge of death, or so to say. Dr. Mitchel Kemble has just realized that he is supposed to be delivering Rebecca’s baby. He has forty seven seconds. He puts his assistant, Marissa Gonzalez, in charge, and rushes to go to room B17, where Rebecca was scheduled to be in.



Two twenty nine and thirty three seconds: Charlie Vanconver is about to die. Marissa Gonzalez is twenty five years old; this is her first time in an operating room. She has no utter idea how to react. She begins to pray.

Two twenty nine and twenty one seconds: Dr. Mitchel Kemble will be running down the hall to room B17. He will crash into Janie Palmer, the girl he had a crush on all through High School. They haven’t seen each other in ten years, since High School graduation. Janie Palmer is on her way to visit Rebecca, her best friend. Janie will recognize Mitchel even after all these years, smile and offer him a hand to help him up.

Two twenty nine and twelve seconds: Charlie Vanconver’s life force will be slipping. Marissa Gonzalez will be about to give up, because there is nothing to help Charlie now. Rebecca is screaming at Jonny either to deliver her child or, in her words, go shove his head into a wall.

Two twenty nine and six seconds: Mitchel Kemble will stare at Janie Palmer in awe, wondering how the heck she could’ve remembered him after all these years. Janie Palmer will c*** an eyebrow at him, ask him if he’s on the job at that moment, and start rambling about how she’s on her way to visit Rebecca. Mitchel will snap back into reality, leap to his feet, and pull Janie Palmer towards room B17.

Two thirty o’clock:
Apparently, Marissa Gonzalez’s prayer power will work, because Charlie Vanconver won’t die. He will flutter back to life, open his eyes, sit up and demand to see his grandchildren. Rebecca will give birth, and here’s a shocker, to twins. A boy who she will name Charles Jonathan and a girl who she will name Janie Maria. And Rebecca and her husband, who happened to be in San Francisco at that moment, will be very proud.

And, last but not least, Mitchel Kemble and Janie Palmer will scoot into room B17 only to realize that they’ve walked straight in on the celebration. Mitchel Kemble, who will be filled with relief, will find the courage and kiss Janie Palmer. Three seconds later he will start to apologize in an embarrassment, and Janie Palmer will kiss him back. Charlie Vanconver will hobble into Room B17 and with a twinkle in his eyes; he will give Jonny a thumbs up. Maybe cheating death left him a little wiser than before or maybe it’s because you just never know.

So, there you have it folks, Time at its best. Sometimes there are days when things may not look so great, but everything has a plot line. Even Time with its outrageous schedule. And the whole point of a plot line is for things to change. That’s what Time is: a changing and shifting schedule. It’s crazy and unpredictable, yes, but maybe that what makes it what it is. Time, in many ways, is Life.

And Life, well that’s another story for another day.