Wasted

　

　

I used to waste time watching TV; now I waste time on my laptop. Am I really wasting time? Is that a philosophical issue or an opinion? Some game playing stimulates your brain, I am told; crossword puzzles supposedly help keep your thinking parts working. Honestly, I doubt it. Crossword puzzles are formulaic, much like sitcoms and TV dramas (sit drams?). Once you do about a million of them you know all the words. Some words are only used in crossword puzzles and never in real life. For example, the following words were in the Washington Post puzzle I did today: “ute”, “olio”, “Eloi”, and “otiose”. I’m guessing that playing solitaire online stimulates only my thumb.

What about Facebook? By now they should be teaching college courses on the effects of this website on the population of the world. It’s amazing that this has only been around since 2004. Right now, I probably only know maybe 3 people, tops, that are not on Facebook. I remember when it started it was for high school and college students--some new thing my kids knew about that never concerned me. I will not admit publicly how much time I spend scrolling its pages. Is it a waste of time? A lot of times, yes. I can get all high and mighty and aver that I learn a lot from news stories, but mostly it’s gossip, memes, nonsense and pictures. I have connected with people I would never have found or kept up with otherwise, but overall it’s become just another part of the hours I spend staring at a screen.

What are useful things to do with one’s time? Creating, exercising, learning new skills, relating to others, participating in groups and petting dogs. I do all those things. Of course, I also work at a full-time job. In the interest of maintaining employment I will not comment on the percentage of that time that is wasted.

As the years slip away, I tell myself I should be more concerned about making good use of my time on earth. There are so many things I have not done, so many years wasted doing the wrong things with the wrong people and all the places I have not been. Then there’s all the foods I have not eaten, the music I haven’t heard, the artwork I haven’t seen and the books I haven’t written. The more I think about it, the more my head spins, much like when I try to contemplate the infinity--or finity--of the universe. Which brings me right back to needing to play solitaire and scan Facebook to avoid a full-blown panic attack.