I currently reside at a place quite far from the city center where I lived until some four five months back. Yes things could be tough, in fact real tough if you fail to accept the reality and try to mend yours habits accordingly. Things aren’t as easily done as said. I mean with the change of places of residence, or even places of work come challenges you already suspected and others you never knew existed. As you try to fit yourself in the social fabric you can’t help looking back at the place you left.
Well coming for the horse’s mouth I can tell you that what makes life in the center of town or anywhere close by is that most things are probably a stone’s throw from your actual residence. It wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that all the basic services you need and others are just a couple of blocks away or somewhere down other soda of the street. You can leave your house telling your family, “I’ll be back at most in an hour and a half, and when you’re indeed back you’ve dealt with three or more appointments and affairs. Even services which aren’t easily found in most parts of the city wouldn’t be any further from one taxi trip away. (No! No! Did I sound that nostalgic! Well, that wasn’t my intention; but then you can’t help looking back at such things which you have taken for granted until reality came knocking. It isn’t that easy party with some memories however trivial you reasoning might sound.)
One thing I you’ll certainly realize as you go further from the center is the significance of time and time management. What am I talking about? Well, I’ll tell you what I’m talking about. When most of the services you need are in close proximity to you residential area, when you don’t have to hop and skip across town in search of very basic daily needs, and when you need a cup of coffee or a couple of beers doesn’t have to take you further than a few minutes’ walk there’s this tendency to just ignore the importance of the hours and the minutes.
But as you move further from the center, as you start to miss the bus or find it hard to beat the crowd to the early taxis you know that it’s all about time. The next bus might come half an hour or even an hour later. I really don’t know how those people plan such things. But having been on the receiving end of such unfortunate events a couple of times I can tell you the feeling is not very nice. “Oh my God; I’m getting late for my important appointment!” The important appointment might be about the opportunity of a far better employment than you currently hold where you might pocket the double the pay your current employers are throwing your way every month. The scarcity of ample transportation opportunities could have a make or break effect on your entire life. So what do you do? You start thinking about how you should manage your time! Aha! Unlucky you! So finally you’ve started to understand that this world is all about time management and whatever you take for granted is never there to stay! One thing you can do when all the bricks seem to be falling one by one is to cross your fingers and send your complaints upwards. “You are not to let me lose such a crucial opportunity! Are You!”
So what do you do? You get up real early. How early? Well how early were you used to getting out of bed? Seven in the morning. What! You get up seven in the morning and still manage to beat the eight thirty office clock? Well sir, this time if you’re really serious you should get up, say at five. Five! I can imagine quite a number of raised eyebrows. “What the hell is this dude trying to say telling us to get out of bed at five! It’d have been better if he told us to not sleep at all!” Believe me such changes don’t come easy.
What’s more, the possibility of managing multiple errands where after finishing a couple of them you can go back home for much-needed lunch and relish your system with some hot food in your tummy is not that clear. I mean, you might be accustomed to having homemade lunch and maybe a couple of cups of home prepared coffee at your leisure and whistling your way to the next appointment. Isn’t that nice? You bet it is. But who said nice things come easy!
Ok, speaking of time management it’s really sad when you see places which have known better acting like there was no concept like time and try to do things at their own chosen pace; some pace where you’ll be a lucky guy if your appointment of nine in the morning sees you going into that office at a quarter to noon. Take it from me and you must be one of the luckiest guys around if you have to wait a few hours more to have your case looked into. Did you think they would care to look after your case at nine in the morning because that’s what some executive secretary told you? Come on, we aren’t in an age when you can afford to be that nice! I mean you just can’t stand the offense you might experience because you thought everything would go smoothly and life will be as dandy as you’d like it to be.
So this time management problem is some curse you find in most offices and service giving entities, even those supposedly ‘advanced.’ They don’t flinch an eyebrow when, after letting you wait for three straight hours they tell you to “…come back tomorrow!” It is as if your life is all about waiting until they feel like looking into your case. You might have programmed tomorrow for a couple of other important affairs.
Of course I’ve to admit at this point that there are places where they make you feel that you actually own the place! How about that? I mean you’re so unaccustomed to such treatment as customer or client that at first you don’t feel much ease. You don’t even know how to respond. But then by the time your case is solved and they wish you a good day ahead you know that sometimes life could be as nice as you dream it to be when you have something more than you’re used to.
So, life is after all about time management.
EPHREM ENDALE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 4 AUGUST 2024