Retrospect: timing

Self-tutoring about functions, performances, and so on: the tutor reflects.

Decades ago, I was at a Christmas pageant and happened, afterwards, to be in the lobby waiting for my others to meet me so we could go home. I ended up standing beside a newspaper man.

“What did you think?” I asked, making conversation.

“It was well-timed,” he responded: “Everything happened on schedule. With events like this, that’s always the most important thing.”

I thought that his comment missed the mark; shouldn’t he have commented on the singing or instrumental performances? The play itself? The choreography?

Decades later I realize that perhaps most people think the way he did, possibly for these reasons:

1. They’re not invested enough to decide if the performance was good, but were expected to attend.
2. They wouldn’t know an OK performance from a great one anyway, but do understand how long the pageant takes.
3. They’ve been trained not to make value judgements, while everyone can agree about time.

Perhaps, therefore, that newspaper man was ahead of his.