I have always found it difficult to conceptualize time. In high school, when I successfully trained myself to approximate the time that would elapse between class bells, I was extremely proud of myself. However, anything whatsoever might distract me from my own ability to judge the passage of time, so it could be argued that I just got lucky sometimes when I actually calculated correctly.
And even after nearly a decade of keeping a social and academic calendar to schedule my life by, I still double-book myself without the faintest clue. Sometimes I don't figure it out until the day of and then I have to scramble and sometimes skip out on this or that.
The issue that came up today has to do with my constant tendency to underestimate how long a task will take. This morning I dropped Kelly off at work at 9am and planned to run errands until I had to be at Amy's at 12:30pm. I planned my trip so that I would run errands as I traveled the 30 min down the highway to Amy's.
It really was a brilliant plan. First, I would drop Kelly's books off at school. Then, I would drive west and slightly north to Old Navy to exchange a shirt. After that, I would drive slightly south to the mall to check out the Gap for a nice red top. After traveling west and slightly south, I would stop at Michael's for some thread and a few particular buttons. Finally, I would drive west and then north again to pick up a prescription from my dermatologist's pharmacy (which was kind of the whole point of running errands in this direction) before grabbing lunch and heading over to Amy's.
All went according to plan until I could not remember whether or not there was a planned stop between Old Navy and Michael's... so I missed the mall completely, which made me want to find another Gap. When I reached the exit for Michael's, I started to panic because I had no idea where it was. And there before me was a mall, comforting, promising many stores: maybe a Michael's or even a Gap. I was lured in and soon found that there was no Michael's or even a Gap, but I lost all consideration for time and went shopping anyway, in search of a nice red top.
When I finally came to my senses, I left the mall and for some reason prioritized the further pursuit of Michael's over the prescription at my dermatologist's office. I successfully located Michael's and the thread I needed, but was disappointed by the lack of button selection. After this, I only had time for a quick lunch and a dash to Amy's.
How did I manage to get so lost in time that I failed to remember that the attainment of the prescription was practically the whole point of the trip!?!?
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