Laid out in the dentist chair, nitrous oxide flowing, classical music through headphones, a fresh-from-the-dryer blanket on my lap, I have a moment of clarity.
My appointment was originally scheduled for 9:10 a.m. My teaching partner has taken over so I have a few hours--no need to worry if the dentist keeps her schedule or not. But after 40 plus minutes in my relaxed state, I start to wonder if I'll have enough time. I am confident I do, so I continue to relax...it is in this state I see the dentist's point of view.
We all know the intensity of back-to-back responsibilities with only five minutes in-between. Or the stress of leaving a meeting early knowing a child is waiting curbside at school. But we must fit the limits of time; how we wish time flexed and bended for us. In response to one-time-fits all demand, our anxiety rises as we pass the speed limit, cut someone short, or tense as we watch the clock. The day before, on a school field trip to study the court system, the school bus driver had been waiting ten minutes while the judge and the two attorneys hadn't finished their last mesmerizing story. Do I interrupt? Wait it out?
I ended up apologizing to the bus driver.
Those last ten minutes were a kind of limbo misery, and now I need to ask students to retell the story. My intensity over time had inhibited my ability to listen.
So today, I see time from the dentist's mind. Six time slots, six patients. One patient's infection is deeper than expected-plus ten minutes. Another patient late: five minutes. More pain than expected, more Novocain to wait on, another delay. The constant pressure to bend into time's compressed box.
Yes, the dentist is an hour late, but I am thankful I am the relaxed one who planned well, who is not trying to meet a schedule. In my efforts to respect time, to give it a roomier box, and my relaxed expectations of the dentist keeping my time, the dreaded dentist visit isn't so.
When my cavities are filled, after I've paid the bill, I use my last unhurried minutes to enjoy a cup of caramel apple tea. Today I flexed and bent to fill someone else's time and the stretch feels good.
My appointment was originally scheduled for 9:10 a.m. My teaching partner has taken over so I have a few hours--no need to worry if the dentist keeps her schedule or not. But after 40 plus minutes in my relaxed state, I start to wonder if I'll have enough time. I am confident I do, so I continue to relax...it is in this state I see the dentist's point of view.
We all know the intensity of back-to-back responsibilities with only five minutes in-between. Or the stress of leaving a meeting early knowing a child is waiting curbside at school. But we must fit the limits of time; how we wish time flexed and bended for us. In response to one-time-fits all demand, our anxiety rises as we pass the speed limit, cut someone short, or tense as we watch the clock. The day before, on a school field trip to study the court system, the school bus driver had been waiting ten minutes while the judge and the two attorneys hadn't finished their last mesmerizing story. Do I interrupt? Wait it out?
I ended up apologizing to the bus driver.
Those last ten minutes were a kind of limbo misery, and now I need to ask students to retell the story. My intensity over time had inhibited my ability to listen.
So today, I see time from the dentist's mind. Six time slots, six patients. One patient's infection is deeper than expected-plus ten minutes. Another patient late: five minutes. More pain than expected, more Novocain to wait on, another delay. The constant pressure to bend into time's compressed box.
Yes, the dentist is an hour late, but I am thankful I am the relaxed one who planned well, who is not trying to meet a schedule. In my efforts to respect time, to give it a roomier box, and my relaxed expectations of the dentist keeping my time, the dreaded dentist visit isn't so.
When my cavities are filled, after I've paid the bill, I use my last unhurried minutes to enjoy a cup of caramel apple tea. Today I flexed and bent to fill someone else's time and the stretch feels good.
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