Greg sat with his friend in the park, “Pat, do you know what time it is?”
“It’s 9am and I’ve been up all night with maintenance and inventory. This time change really messes you up, you know?”
“Not me, I ignore the time changes. I use GMT.”
“We don’t use Greenwich Mean Time anymore, Greg. It’s UTC now.”
“You mean ‘Coordinated Universal Time’? Pffft, they can’t even get the letters in the right order,” Greg said without revealing who they are. “I use the Greg Monitor Time. Daylight Savings Time? What’s that even mean? You can’t save time, you can only spend it. You spend time….”
Pat began to drift away in thought as Greg rambled on, something about time philosophy or something. He let Greg continue expounding on the “taxation of time,” at least that was what he thought the subject of the day was. Pat no longer cared.
“I asked what time is it?” Greg asked again after Pat was brought back to the topic at hand. “What time is it in Greg Monitor Time, GMT?”
“I don’t know. Thursday?”
“Are you even listening, Pat?”
“I suppose you’re right. If everyone stayed in one time, it would solve problems with the changing of the clocks.”
“That’s right but I think everyone should be on GMT, the…”
“Greg Monitor Time,” Pat interrupted.
“Right. You see, this is how it works. At sun up at the equinox, the time at latitude zero…”
Pat’s thoughts drifted again. He heard this diatribe each time he met up with his friend right after a time change. It usually ended with the suggestion that Greg move to a state that didn’t change times, like Arizona. The argument turned to how part of the year you would be in Pacific Time like California and the rest of the year, one lived in Mountain Time.
“… then after every 15 degrees longitude…” Greg was on a roll.
Pat looked over at a couple walking under the maple trees, wondering if they had a friend like Greg.
“So, what time is it?”
Pat glanced at his watch and sighed, “It’s lunch time.”
-----------------
I think each of us have a friend like Greg, full of knowledge and empty of facts as they continue in absolute confidence of their words.
But you're still friends with them anyhow.
Linked to Poets and Storytellers United:Weekly Scribblings #10: Early Bird or Night Owl?
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I do, indeed; have a friend like Greg but I go out of my way never to ask him anything. A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
ReplyDeleteGood advice, Ron. Thank you.
DeleteI do like Pat's attitude!
ReplyDeleteI believe he has much more patience than I. Thank you, Rosemary
DeleteHaha this is absolutely delightful, Joel! I think we all have a friend like Greg 💝
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sanaa. It seems that way sometimes, doesn't it?
DeleteSounds like the Name might be important,GMT or UTC. We shouldn't forget GPS time, earlier (2]05) it was 14 seconds faster than UTC. Back on the year UTC on that year December 31, 23:59 was 61 seconds long to make a correction. I posted what I knew here, https://jimmiehov.blogspot.com/2005/12/some-not-original-thoughts-with-no.html?m=0 .
ReplyDelete..
Interesting side information, Jim. Thank you for stopping by and adding that.
DeleteI would love to meet this Greg!
ReplyDeleteHe may return someday, Helen. Thanks for adding that thought.
DeleteLuv the Lunchtime line and the notion of spending time
ReplyDeleteHappy Wednesday
Much❤love
I'm glad you liked this, Gillena. Thank you.
Deletelunch time! Love that.
ReplyDeleteImagine, talking until lunch time? Hmmm...
DeleteThank you, Margaret. I'm glad you liked this.
Where's Greg? I need to meet him...love the story!
ReplyDeleteI think we should see more of Pat and Greg sometime. Thank you, Susie. I'm glad you liked it.
Delete