How many times in a day do we hear people say " Give me a minute?", or "Wait a minute", or " Be back in a few minutes" or the infamous, "It will only take a few minutes" ? If we counted all of the times we have heard those types of expressions, I imagine we would be astounded.
Exactly how long is a minute? It's simple, easy math. Sixty seconds. Sixty seconds unless you are on the waiting end of the clock. Imagine if you are in hospital or infirmary, and need to go to the restroom, but must wait for an attendant to assist you. The attendant comes in, says, "I will be back in a minute". That puts the whole "minute" into a very real perspective. You wait, wait, wait and wait. Finally, the attendant reappears. You express your concern for how long he/she has been gone, and you hear the second greatest fib ever told. "I was only gone for a minute".
Caregivers use the minute excuse on an hourly basis because of the amount of things they must juggle. It is difficult to meet all of the demands of patients and stretch yourself as far you possibly can. So, we use the minute excuse to validate and acknowledge we have heard and understand their needs. Wouldn't it be easier to just say, "Be with you when I can?". Those words just don't sound as nice as, "be there in a minute." I guess that's why we say it. It sounds nicer.
So the next time you use the word "minute", preceded by the words ""I will be there", start your own stopwatch.
Thanks for reading my rant today. I will blog again in a few minutes.
This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.
The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?
