Another Notion of Time. Sound Familiar? - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

Another Notion of Time. Sound Familiar? - Dr. Ed Iannuccilli

When I wrote of time last week, I received a number of comments. One from my friend Paul was especially interesting.

“It can be an ally or an enemy . . . something that yields great factual detail or allows the wildest dreams of our imagination, something that can result in great joy or excruciating pain, something that has been characterized as “money” yet is free to all, something that is valued by all irrespective of wealth, race, gender, sexual orientation, or age, something that passes slowly when you want it to go fast and goes by fast when you want it to move slowly, something that we shouldn’t waste yet always seem to lose, and something we always want more of… until we don’t want any more at all.”

 

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Beautiful. But in the Italian heritage of my youth, time was something different, understood though almost indefinable. This conversation may help you:

“In school, they told us drinking is bad. Do you drink, Dad?”

“Drink? Me? Nooooooooooo. I might have a beer if I’m at a ‘Time.’”

“A ‘Time?’ What’s that?”

“A ‘Time,’ You know. Where people get together to honor you and eat and drink.”

“Oh. We have a ‘Time’ every Sunday at Grandma’s.”

“No, not that kind of a time. I mean a real ‘Time’ with lots of people. And they talk about you, hug you, and kiss you. And they drink and eat to their content. And then you can say they gave you a ‘Time.’ And they say, ‘What a ‘Time it was!’ Now do you understand?”

“Nope.”

“Try this. A ‘Time’ is what happens after someone graduates, has an anniversary, or gets married. It’s an honor thing. Like this First Communion for you.”

“Oh. Now I understand. People  dress up, eat, drink, and talk around.”

“Yeah, and they leave a gift, like a Cross Pen and Pencil set. Or soap on a rope. Or rosary beads.”

“Yeah, I like that. So you can have a ‘Time’ any time, right?”

“Well almost but not really. You have to do something, like get your First Communion, or die.”

“Like when Uncle Bart died?”

“Right! And then after the funeral people say, “We went to The 1025 Club! Oye, what a ‘Time’ they put on. Not just breakfast; a full meal! It was a ‘Time!’ Or, when we went to Cousin Frankie’s new house with the finished basement, and said, “Wow what a ‘Time’ we could have down here.”

“OK. And the ‘Time’” is at a special time of day, right?”

“Right.”

“And the timing for the ‘Time’ has to be timed for you and what you did, right?”

“Right.”

“And you just can’t have a ‘Time’ any old time, right?”

“Right. Now you get it.”

“Yep, now I get it. I’m getting dressed. Let’s go to the ‘Time.’”

“You’re timing is perfect.”

“Thanks. Wait. One other thing. I’ll bet they gave Einstein quite a ‘Time’ when he discovered that stuff about time.”

“Right again.”

“Then let’s go. We’re off to a ‘Time.’”