Hurry!

Okay, here's a little conundrum that continues to baffle me year after year. We all know that some children spend a lot of time throughout the school day sitting in class watching the clock, pondering how many minutes remain until they can go home. So here's my question: Why is it that the very same children will do anything first thing in the morning or right after recess to ensure that they're the first ones in the building when the bell rings? Every day I see the same children who would rather be somewhere else push ahead in line, refuse to hold the door, and even sneak in other doors to be the first one for the class that they want to leave as soon as possible.

Strangely enough, we adults exhibit the same strange behaviour. We are constantly in a rush, even downright excited to do something we don't want to do.

Recently, I underwent that routine, spectaclar medical test that marks the beauty of turning 50. I was sitting in the hospital waiting room populated by men and women with squeaky clean colons, contemplating an unknown doctor exploring my netherworlds while sedated, when I was reminded of something Jerry Seinfeld illustrated so brilliantly in an episode of Seinfeld. Here we were, a bunch of people about to have an important, necessary, yet fairly unpleasant procedure (well, at least the prep isn't exactly a party), and we couldn't wait to be called. As Jerry explains, "And then, they finally call you and it’s a very exciting moment. They finally call you, and you stand up and you kinda look around at the other people in the room. “Well, I guess I’ve been chosen. I’ll see you all later.”"

For me at least, the anticipation of a particular event is often worse than the experience itself, so the real attraction to expedite matters is simply to get the whatever-it-is, over with. Basically, the faster I get in, the faster I'll get out. So I have to ask myself, is this how kids view school? Do they scramble in the doors just so they can, theoretically, get out faster?

I'm not so sure. Granted, I see elementary children every day. You might tell me that it's different with high school and university students, but I'm still not so sure. You see, I think that most children view even the things they're not sure they want to do with a different attitude. Children want to give people and situtations the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it's because adults are reassuring them. Maybe it's because they're not experienced enough in life to know any better. Whatever the reason, even children who are having a tough go of school will, by and large, push their way into the doors day after day, because to them, a new day offers them a new opportunity to have a good day instead of a bad one.

We all have those things in life that we dread. Experience is a great teacher. Experience alone, however, should not be the only marker in judging the outcome of any particular event. Undoubtedly, we need to be mindful of past experiences when we head into new ones. At the same time, we need to remind ourselves that new experiences are just that...new experiences. Their outcomes might be different than ones from the past.

When we are armed with experience, we can take the plunge to discover new territory. And when my name is called, I'll stand up and look around at the other people in the room and announce, “Well, I guess I’ve been chosen. I’ll see you all later."