My Five Minutes
Sitting.
Waiting for something to happen.
The issue at hand can be fairly frustrating, especially in regards to life. We spend life waiting to die and by wasting our time in the meantime. As tragic as this might appear, nothing compares to the process of waiting for a class to end. The matter of discussion is five freaking minutes: synonymous with eternity.
The Hindu Atman is not as eternal as those five minutes can be. It’s too late to get anything done, said or explained; still, it’s too early to cross the doorstep on a ride to freedom (yes, the hallway.). Time is ticking while pressure is building. Demands for bathroom visits are instantly rejected all across the classroom.
“Is today’s lesson finished?” “Yes.”
“So we have nothing to do?” “Yes.”
“Can we leave?” “NO.” Why? No one knows; it is simply BECAUSE; no further questions allowed.
Chances are that no alien invasion will start and no lightning will hit me on the head if I am allowed to go five minutes earlier.
Neither will I save the world and be all over the news and earn accusations on the teacher’s behalf for missing those five minutes
of class while being marked as present.
So, once again, why bother staying if there’s nothing left to do? No one NEEDS those five minutes and no one will miss them. That is, unless one is in the process of writing a test. In that case those five minutes are more than favored, demanded and even elongated. And nobody minds having five more in their possession. Otherwise, these minutes represent a total waste of time that can be spent much more productively (a chat with a friend and a walk to your locker ARE considered as more productive, and no further questions allowed; thank you).
Another world problem in regards to wasting time while waiting for your time to run out are waits in A LINE. Here I want to put a special emphasis on the school’s cafeteria line which appears to be getting longer each year. And unlike those last minutes of class, brunch does not tend to last for an eternity. If the line’s too long, give up on it bro, and go write your pre-calculus homework instead. You’ll be starving for another 20 minutes either way (as can be seen I DO care about productivity a lot). Similarly, consider the time wasted while waiting for your bus to arrive. Those buses never arrive on time. Or perhaps I don’t know the actual arrival time, but I believe the first statement holds greater truth.
Then there’s the waste of time you create when you choose to walk through life with your eyes closed, blinded by previously shaped patterns and devotedly following them. Throw aside all pieces of inspiration and free thought or you’ll be the culprit of a highly ranked crime, (note you will get 10% taken off your grade for not following guidelines). Add to that the waste of time spent in worries, dedicated to the romance with your beloved PC (and its evil twin Facebook) or pointless arguments of any sorts (okay, those can be fun). Such activities may take away five minutes, or more. Time is relative, however. So your five minutes of half an hour may not equal my five minutes of a 20 minute nap.
I still consider the five minutes before the end of class the worst waste of time out of them all. Why? Because it makes me re-analyze absurd questions connected to life’s meaning while fighting the urge to not fall asleep on my hand. Because, honestly, five minutes is not even close to what I need for a successful nap.
Waiting for something to happen.
The issue at hand can be fairly frustrating, especially in regards to life. We spend life waiting to die and by wasting our time in the meantime. As tragic as this might appear, nothing compares to the process of waiting for a class to end. The matter of discussion is five freaking minutes: synonymous with eternity.
The Hindu Atman is not as eternal as those five minutes can be. It’s too late to get anything done, said or explained; still, it’s too early to cross the doorstep on a ride to freedom (yes, the hallway.). Time is ticking while pressure is building. Demands for bathroom visits are instantly rejected all across the classroom.
“Is today’s lesson finished?” “Yes.”
“So we have nothing to do?” “Yes.”
“Can we leave?” “NO.” Why? No one knows; it is simply BECAUSE; no further questions allowed.
Chances are that no alien invasion will start and no lightning will hit me on the head if I am allowed to go five minutes earlier.
Neither will I save the world and be all over the news and earn accusations on the teacher’s behalf for missing those five minutes
of class while being marked as present.
So, once again, why bother staying if there’s nothing left to do? No one NEEDS those five minutes and no one will miss them. That is, unless one is in the process of writing a test. In that case those five minutes are more than favored, demanded and even elongated. And nobody minds having five more in their possession. Otherwise, these minutes represent a total waste of time that can be spent much more productively (a chat with a friend and a walk to your locker ARE considered as more productive, and no further questions allowed; thank you).
Another world problem in regards to wasting time while waiting for your time to run out are waits in A LINE. Here I want to put a special emphasis on the school’s cafeteria line which appears to be getting longer each year. And unlike those last minutes of class, brunch does not tend to last for an eternity. If the line’s too long, give up on it bro, and go write your pre-calculus homework instead. You’ll be starving for another 20 minutes either way (as can be seen I DO care about productivity a lot). Similarly, consider the time wasted while waiting for your bus to arrive. Those buses never arrive on time. Or perhaps I don’t know the actual arrival time, but I believe the first statement holds greater truth.
Then there’s the waste of time you create when you choose to walk through life with your eyes closed, blinded by previously shaped patterns and devotedly following them. Throw aside all pieces of inspiration and free thought or you’ll be the culprit of a highly ranked crime, (note you will get 10% taken off your grade for not following guidelines). Add to that the waste of time spent in worries, dedicated to the romance with your beloved PC (and its evil twin Facebook) or pointless arguments of any sorts (okay, those can be fun). Such activities may take away five minutes, or more. Time is relative, however. So your five minutes of half an hour may not equal my five minutes of a 20 minute nap.
I still consider the five minutes before the end of class the worst waste of time out of them all. Why? Because it makes me re-analyze absurd questions connected to life’s meaning while fighting the urge to not fall asleep on my hand. Because, honestly, five minutes is not even close to what I need for a successful nap.
Isidora Bojkovska