Timing Off

Last week I drove my wife to a medical appointment and thought I would jog while she was inside. We calculated the visit would be a short one based on her last appointment. I began by jogging around the grounds of the facility so I would be nearby at all times. That got so boring that I extended my run with loops that penetrated farther and farther into the adjacent neighborhood as the minutes ticked by. I was still periodically running by the front door of the clinic. I texted her to tell me if she had a time estimate if she was stuck in dead waiting time. I received no answer. As an hour approached, I succumbed to the temptation to venture even a bit further still. As I arrived at my newest and most distant turnaround point, my phone rang. My wife was ready to leave. A mathematician could probably have plotted some sort of algorithm to help me formulate a better plan. But I now know intuitively to run the biggest loop first. Even if I were at the most distant point on that first long loop, my wife would be at the point of most patience because she would be done so early. I could run smaller and smaller loops as time wore on, increasing the probability that I would be reasonably close at time of exit. This is why I am not more successful in life. I always think of the exact right thing to say or do when I am driving home from work, a social gathering, or any other human endeavor. I would have been a great Monday Morning Quarterback but I thought of that career too late.