The Alarm Clock

I am a punctual person. Very punctual. Some I have known consider that anal retentive, but I believe it has a direct correlation to integrity, character and a consideration for others. My ex had a different view of the concept of time, and has long struggled to be prompt for anything, anywhere. Ironically, my connection between punctuality and character don't actually apply to her though, because her consideration of others is exemplary, and she's someone that has a great deal of integrity. 

But goddamn, it's infuriating when someone is always late, especially when you're a person who's never late. And she's pissed off more than her share of people over the years with that temporal blind spot.

As a result, we got into a habit, over a decade ago, of setting the bedroom clock 15 or 20 minutes ahead. It was a way to motivate her out of bed, by insinuating the time was later than it actually was. Well- intentioned, perhaps, but all it really did was demand raw math skills at a time far too early for that side of my brain (right? left?) to be undertaking calculations. Eventually your brain grasped the fact that 7:42 actually meant 7:22, and you went back to sleep; it never solved the lateness issue. Yet, it became a morning routine habit that has persisted even after she's gone. Habit calcified into a daily mental twitch.

Today I set my alarm clock for the exact time.

I am living in the present. And I intend to stay there.

Doesn't make getting out of bed easier though on those days when the most spectacular person lays beside you, a gentle, warm smile on her face that appears to have not faded throughout the few short hours we dozed.

I suppose the alarm just gets set earlier now. That's why god invented the snooze button. Because even when you're in the present, eventually you have to get up and make the coffee.