2 minutes 11 seconds

Something happened yesterday that made me think about how much things have changed in my 40-plus years. A little before noon, my third cup of coffee was getting a little cold so I walked about 50 feet to the nearest microwave to warm it. As I approached, my mood soured because I could hear the hum and knew the microwave was in use. Arriving, I saw that my co-worker’s soup was going to take another 2 minutes and 11 seconds. I turned around, stopped by the online department to tell the intern I was ready to tape my daily video and returned to my desk. Feeling hungry, I popped open a small container of applesauce and decided I also had time to call my wife and confirm a pickup time before the intern Katie arrived to shoot Tomorrow’s News Today. Katie walked in as I was trying to scoop applesauce into my mouth and talk to my wife at the same time. Awkwardly, I told her to come on in and started telling my wife I would be picking up son Danny at around 3 p.m. After missing my mouth and spilling applesauce on my shirt, I put it down, told my wife good-bye and apologized to Katie for not being ready for the video. In the end, my coffee was still cold, I was still hungry, my wife was still confused about pickup plans and I suspect Katie is wondering why I have the big office.
It occurred to me that the whole mess could have been avoided if I had just waited 2 minutes and 11 seconds. When I was growing up, it seemed no one measured time by minutes and seconds. Now every tick of the clock is a chance to multi-task. In the end, all my rushing accomplished nothing worthwhile.

Any comments or suggestions?