Killing time or missing opportunities

I hate the phrase, 'I've got time to kill.'

Yet I used it last week with Mace. He and I were on the UNL campus Thursday morning and, after we had finished our business, he wanted to go visit my instructor in the next building.

"Mama, can we go visit Captain Randy?" And what do I say but, "sure, Mace, we've got time to kill."

The truth is, I don't have time to kill. Like everyone else, I have what I have and not a minute more. Shouldn't that time be filled by investing it with people? What's wrong about a sit-down, face-to-face discussion about the world/health/family/school that I've reduced it to the in between time we have in our packed schedule? I don't like having that mindset about the time I spend with people. Video games, yes. People, no.

It's one thing to say we value people. It's another thing to invest in people. Not money but time. And time spent with other people is never time killed.

LMF