I received a call this morning from an acquaintance who spent the first what-seemed-like- innumerable-minutes explaining to me how busy she is. She has a full time job and has to come home and cook and clean. And commuting to work is such a headache. The ramble went on and on with me not listening to a word past a point. In fact I was reading the paper when she called (yes I have time to read the newspaper – I am so un-busy!!) and I went back to it uninterested in her busy lifestyle and unable to focus on it.
Oh in case you’re reading and thinking, 'is he talking about me?' you can heave a sigh of relief because I’m not. My opening character of this piece clearly doesn’t have the time to read my postings, so I don’t send them to her. Heaven forbid I give her more to do. However, if the thought did come to your mind, the next time you’re trying to come up with an excuse, think of something a little more original.
It annoys me to no end when someone who hasn’t been in touch for a while, hasn’t returned your call(s) and/or email(s) decides to get in touch with the classic ‘I’ve been so busy’ excuse. Unless the excuse is followed up with some compelling reason that has caused him/her to be busier than the rest of the working population, I really don’t buy it. I would rather be told ‘sorry but calling you back wasn’t a priority’ or ‘I did see the caller id but I wasn’t in the mood to speak to you and then it slipped my mind’ or even ‘you are at the bottom of my list of people to call – that’s why it took so long’. I may get offended but I’m sure I’ll get a laugh out of it.
We’re all busy. I have a full life and I’m not talking about going to work, cooking and cleaning. Those are just things that I’m forced to do. It’s all the things that I want to do that me really busy. And considering that I just resigned from my job, starting next week I’m going to be even busier!
I’m so irritated with the ‘busy’ word that I’ve now started substituting it with ‘tied-up’. Which, depending upon how the conversation is going, can lead to some very interesting visions.
“Sorry I haven’t been able to speak to you in the past month but I’ve been tied up. In fact I just got free!”
New Yorkers pretend to be the busiest people in the world. It seems like everyone is running to get somewhere and they’re always running late. Most of the people I’ve met here are ‘extremely busy’ but upon probing, their lives seem no more hectic than mine (a lot less actually most of the time). As much as I’ve grown to love this city, I’m also convinced that the majority of the people here are completely self-obsessed and think it’s almost embarrassing to be in regular touch as their secret of not being busy will be revealed. When I first moved here and I’d meet someone new, I’d be like ‘lets meet up sometime’ and we’d exchange numbers or email addresses. Silly me, I’d even try calling or texting, not knowing that everyone’s too busy to call or text back. I was beginning to get a complex, but then I found out that this is how you’re supposed to act over here. Sadly I think New Yorkers are some of the loneliest people in the world.
On a happy note, I also came across people who have a mind of their own and don’t care about conforming. I can proudly call them my friends.
I’d love to end this piece by saying something preachy like ‘our family and friends are the most important things in our lives and we should never be too busy to be in touch with them’ or ‘we can always get another job but its hard to replace a good friend’ or ‘running after money could result in people running away from you’.
But I’m not gonna ….
Oh in case you’re reading and thinking, 'is he talking about me?' you can heave a sigh of relief because I’m not. My opening character of this piece clearly doesn’t have the time to read my postings, so I don’t send them to her. Heaven forbid I give her more to do. However, if the thought did come to your mind, the next time you’re trying to come up with an excuse, think of something a little more original.
It annoys me to no end when someone who hasn’t been in touch for a while, hasn’t returned your call(s) and/or email(s) decides to get in touch with the classic ‘I’ve been so busy’ excuse. Unless the excuse is followed up with some compelling reason that has caused him/her to be busier than the rest of the working population, I really don’t buy it. I would rather be told ‘sorry but calling you back wasn’t a priority’ or ‘I did see the caller id but I wasn’t in the mood to speak to you and then it slipped my mind’ or even ‘you are at the bottom of my list of people to call – that’s why it took so long’. I may get offended but I’m sure I’ll get a laugh out of it.
We’re all busy. I have a full life and I’m not talking about going to work, cooking and cleaning. Those are just things that I’m forced to do. It’s all the things that I want to do that me really busy. And considering that I just resigned from my job, starting next week I’m going to be even busier!
I’m so irritated with the ‘busy’ word that I’ve now started substituting it with ‘tied-up’. Which, depending upon how the conversation is going, can lead to some very interesting visions.
“Sorry I haven’t been able to speak to you in the past month but I’ve been tied up. In fact I just got free!”
New Yorkers pretend to be the busiest people in the world. It seems like everyone is running to get somewhere and they’re always running late. Most of the people I’ve met here are ‘extremely busy’ but upon probing, their lives seem no more hectic than mine (a lot less actually most of the time). As much as I’ve grown to love this city, I’m also convinced that the majority of the people here are completely self-obsessed and think it’s almost embarrassing to be in regular touch as their secret of not being busy will be revealed. When I first moved here and I’d meet someone new, I’d be like ‘lets meet up sometime’ and we’d exchange numbers or email addresses. Silly me, I’d even try calling or texting, not knowing that everyone’s too busy to call or text back. I was beginning to get a complex, but then I found out that this is how you’re supposed to act over here. Sadly I think New Yorkers are some of the loneliest people in the world.
On a happy note, I also came across people who have a mind of their own and don’t care about conforming. I can proudly call them my friends.
I’d love to end this piece by saying something preachy like ‘our family and friends are the most important things in our lives and we should never be too busy to be in touch with them’ or ‘we can always get another job but its hard to replace a good friend’ or ‘running after money could result in people running away from you’.
But I’m not gonna ….
10 comments:
OK, you got me on the title. You made me go out immediately and read it. Such truth in the story about 'busy' people. I'm not that busy I can't call my friends - but do get lazy sometimes. And after being with clients, prospects all day/week - I do want my quiet time.
So when r u coming to Colorado??
Wow. You've hit the nail on the head. People use the "busy" word just as a substitute for "my life is made up of many tasks (not in a bad way) which include job, family, organization, cleaning, eating, friends, entertainment, etc. etc. etc. And the priorities of thosse tasks change every day, month, year.... I appreciate my FRIENDS who understand that those priorities change and that, sometimes, they have to take a back seat. A true FRIEND to me is someone who will keep me in their good graces no matter where they happen to fall in the priority line. I have many of those, thankfully. And I am the same to them. It's way more important to me that I can call someone a friend still even after a considerable amount of time goes by since we've "communicated". I just don't keep score on who "communicated" last.....
+5 Insightful
I actually laughed out aloud when I read your post :D
What you say is very true, and quite frankly, I'm guilty of doing this as well. I think that this excuse is used because it is half-true, and thus we feel much better morally.
The other strategy employed by some is to get on the offensive when they talk to you after a very long time. I find this quite annoying as well.
:)) I liked your ending a lot.... I believe one is as busy as one chooses to be... though there are times when one becomes busier than one would like to be - but only sometimes.
You've resigned your job?? Does that mean you're coming back to India anytime soon?
I just read that bit of resigning. I hope it does not mean that you are coming backhere. Suzy is bad enough. Having both of you together is like too much.
Hope you are well.
'k; I've been tied up makin' fudge.
dats a good one thr, tini b! i like it. interesting! a well written piece. i like the way u write, very conversational. ur words truly read like thoughts flowing. i feel that's a good sign. i enjoyed it.
talking of quitting jobs, u anyday win this one hands down!!:) (the last time we spoke u suggested i am better/worse than u on this one..!)
i salute u for the step. i had a full life when i wasnt workin (my 5 mth sabbatical). and now i am doing things v r forced to do, as u said. can't wait to retire!
hv fun!:)
Ratan, your blog was shared with me, I hope you don't mind. You are truly a gifted writer! I'll be in NY in October if you are still around then, would love to see you. Peace, Sue Massaro
Attention all you ultra-conservative intelligent design shippers...this guy blows your argument right out of the water.
Sadly true, but can anything be done, most definitely not. Its just who they are. Honestly I love honesty. I'd sure get a kick of out of their 'real' reason too, but no, they think they'd offend or might think it might let you in on their reality.
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