AHHHHHHHHH!

I had jury duty last week and I was so excited!  I deliberately make sure that my driver license and my voter registration names are slightly different--one has only my middle initial, one has my middle name spelled out--so that I get called more often.   I really like serving on a trial.   But it was a wash out, as usual.  I sat in the big assembly room all day.  I studied Italian and read my Kindle, and looked up often, in case anyone wanted to talk, but no one did.  Disappointing.  My brother, who works at the County, was not available for lunch, so I didn't even get to visit with him. 

Near the end of the day, I sat on the concrete bench outside, hoping to absorb some of the late sun, when an older man made a comment about the day, and finding me responsive and friendly, sat by my side for a chat.  It was a pleasant chat in the breezy afternoon.  We found we knew some people in common, and he laughed at my little witticisms.  I told him I was recently retired and he said the same thing that everyone does.  And it never fails to enrage me.

He said, "After you've retired, time goes by so quickly."

My hackles raised and I sat up straighter.  "Everyone says that!  And I reject it!  Time is time and it doesn't go by any slower or faster.  It's only your perception of it.  If you look back upon it, it always seems like it's gone by quickly.  But look at today.  Did time go by quickly while we were here?"

Of course he could not deny that it had been a very slow day, and he looked at me a little startled. But then his face relaxed into a smile and he chuckled.  "I like you!" he said.  "You are the type of person I would like to get to know, I can tell."  And he patted my knee with gusto.

I was getting ready to leave the house this morning and I couldn't find my cell phone.  So I do like all thoughtful absent-minded people do, I picked up the land line to call my cell, hoping I hadn't left it in silent mode.  I dialed the number and then held the phone away to listen for my ring tone.  Strange.  Someone was answering.  I brought the receiver to my head.

"Hello?"
"Who were you trying to reach?" A strange woman's voice.
"Uh, actually, I was trying to call my own cell phone, so I think I have the wrong number."
We laughed.

The reason I dialed the wrong number is that I didn't have my reading glasses on.  The numbers were only blurs to me. So I tried to guess, not very successfully as it turns out.  It's sort of dismaying as you get older how your vision decays.  But I don't dwell on it.  Instead I think about how fortunate I am to live in a time when there are glasses available for me to wear.  Then it's not a big deal, as long as you're not too vain about it.

But I wish there were still monocles.  I would like to have a monocle in my pocket to bring out with a flourish when I have to look at the menu or examine a line of text.  Of course, I'm a woman, so I seldom have a pocket, but that's another story.