OPEN LETTER TO JUNIOR

Dear Junior...

My other letters to you have been disjointed, not having the usual "Open letter to junior" symbol. I hope you don't mind. I might write more letters like that. I have taken it upon myself to write consistently to you for 60 days. I thought i could keep track, but right now, I don't even know if today's episode is day 22. Well, that is beside the point. The point is that you are getting to learn from each letter.

Recently I was in my room and I stumbled across this video skit where a guy went to a mall to buy some groceries and after he had made his selection, he suddenly found out that he had forgotten his wallet at home. He thought about what to do as he really needed to get those groceries to his wife on time for her to make dinner. Then like a revelation, an unveiling that I could only see as comical, he took out his watch and gave it to the attendant.

There, I have paid for the groceries.

The attendant, puzzled at such inane action asked..

What do you mean sir?

He looked at her and smiled like a master would look at a prodigy , the kind of smile that suggested " I am smarter than you are". Then he said..

Don't they say that time is money? I just gave you my time.

Then he walked out with the groceries with his shoulders inflated and feeling like he just said some ancient wisdom that should be inscribed in the earth crust for the longest of times.

What stupidity? Complete senselessness! Absolute absurdity! How would a thinking man on 2 feet think in such a manner? Time is money, so giving someone your wrist watch means you gave them your time? No! No! Even a kid understands that the world doesn't work like that.

Besides, time is not money. Money is money. Time is time. The only thing that makes time valuable is what is being done. What that time is spent doing. The value of time is in the activity with which that time is filled. Time that is spent goofing around cannot be worth anything.

I guess the inventor of the saying "time is money" thought of it as time well spent is as valuable as money. I mean, salary is essentially payment for time spent. And the value of your time increases with your level of skill in a particular field. It means that the time of a doctor is a lot more valuable in hospital than the time of a janitor.

I am not trying to say that the work of a janitor ain't important. But the way things in the world are structured, value is placed on some jobs more than others. That is why the time of a doctor is valued a lot more than that of a janitor. So, my advice? Study the environment. Find the jobs or skills that are highly valued in the community and educate yourself in these things.

Time is not money! Money is money! And so is time well spent.