Priorities

OK, I am going to say it out loud.  Sometimes, this ‘being an adult’ crap is for the birds.  I know we all get this and struggle with it occasionally, but once in a while, you just want to scream it out.  I had one of those lately. It came to the top of my head today and I really need to share it.

I watch a television show that I LOVE, called American Restoration.  For those of you who haven’t caught this, it is on The History Channel on Wednesday nights, and has turned into my only real ‘must-see’ of the week.  Rick’s Restorations in Las Vegas will restore virtually anything back to the luster it had when new.  Sometimes, their restoration of items I remember from my childhood turn out better than when originally purchased.  Suffice it to say, you really need to watch this show.

Two months ago I attended a meeting in Las Vegas with our software provider.  Looking through the itinerary, I identified a gap in the schedule.  We had a one on one session with Darrin from INxSQL (software company) from 3 to 4 pm and then we were done for the day.  I planned everything out: getting a taxi as well as recognizing I would only have about 30 minutes at Rick’s Restorations.  I had taken several pictures of a meat scale from The Eastside Market that I wanted to discuss restoring and loaded them on my Kindle Fire.  (Side note: The Eastside Market was my grandparent’s meat market which sat between the Garden Theater and Votrebeck’s Jewelry on the east side of the square in Sigourney, IA.)  I was ready to go.

The meetings were good, but as the day progressed I became more and more like a kid sitting on the curb waiting for a parade to go past.  I could barely hold still.

So, 3:00 finally arrived and we began our meeting with Darrin from INxSQL.  I was within sixty minutes of the part of the trip I had anticipated the most.  And what happened?  Although the entirety of the meeting was very good and highly educational, it figured that this discussion was without question, the best and the most helpful.

No problem, we weren’t going to finish early, (which had been a secret hope) but, an hour is an hour.  Unless, of course, the person you are meeting with doesn’t have another one after ours, and the conversation continued to be very good.  And there it was.  The conversation with Darrin was nothing short of great.  I sat and talked with him and watched the clock approach and then pass 4:00.

We didn’t finish until 4:30. Darn it.

I did the adult thing. I stayed at the meeting, learned a lot that I’ve used since returning to work, and missed the opportunity to go to Rick’s Restoration.  I could have excused myself early from the meeting, done my own thing, and it would have been ok.  But, that wasn’t the right thing to do.

We’ve learned to be adults and take care of our responsibilities.  And, we look back at the time before adulthood with fond memories of doing what we wanted to do, and not what we needed to do. Kids, enjoy your time as a youth.  Setting priorities stinks.


Next time I go to Las Vegas, I’m going to Rick’s Restorations!