On Friday, I had an early morning escorting shift. When I need to be at the clinic at 7 AM, the 6:30 AM train is the fastest option: I can leave the house at 6:15 AM and be there on time. There is literally nothing faster.
When I left the house, I even had a thought that maybe-possibly I should hop on the Red Line, since the train was approaching the station when I walked by. However, I told myself that minutes matter, and I want to be actually on time – today, I was a team lead for the early morning shift.
Long story short: when I arrived at the station, I saw that the train was cancelled, and the next train, I knew, was in 30 minutes! Yes, it was Friday, but there are people who actually work on Friday! By the time I realized what was going on and went down to the street level, it was already 6:35, and I knew there would be no way to get to the clinic on time.
I ordered Uber while twenty people nearby were doing the same. Fortunately, it arrived in less than 5 minutes, and fortunately, the traffic was light. I texted everyone that I would be about 7 minutes late, and then I thought that if I wouldn’t have to go to escort, I wouldn’t even get Uber, but would walk to the L-train station. And I thought that the Uber driver would never believe I was so worried to be late to volunteering activity rather than to work.
And finally, I thought that the was majority of my volunteering activities are more time sensitive than my work. It happens so often that I realize I need to send certain emails “today”, no matter what, and spend time checking my language, like I would never do at work:)
Hettie's Reflections 