There's a bar I visit now and then. Now and then for the last 40 years. I know the owner, knew the previous owner. Sunday, I dropped by for a drink and conversation. The owner wasn't around so I sat down at the public computer the previous owner installed and started to read my e-mail.
A couple of guys were playing cribbage in the back room. A half dozen more were scattered the length of the bar watching football. And three men, friends, who obviously had too much holiday cheer were arguing about who would pay for the cab home.
My back was to them as I noodled through e-mails inviting me to buy Rolexes and meet lonely Russian women. One of the three friends sat down at a table next to me and made a call on his cell. He was a big, strong man dressed in heavy garments made for working outside in cold weather. Young, maybe 30. "No" he bellowed into the phone. "No, no way."
He approached me and asked "What time is it?'
"Three-thirty." The man looked wounded and gasped "Nooooo."
"Here," I said, "take a look at my watch." I held out my arm. The man steadied himself and said quietly "You are right."
Then a light bulb seemed to go off in his head. He would appeal my verdict to a higher power -- the bar maid. "Hey lady, what time is it?"
"About three, three-thirty," the bar maid said absent-mindedly. Then she looked at the clock on the far wall. "Yep, three-thirty."
The man exploded into a rambling, profane rage. When he lost steam, the bar maid inquired "So what did you miss?"
"What did I miss? What did I miss?" the man repeated on the verge of tears. "I missed yesterday."
I sympathize with the man. Missing yesterdays is not a good thing. You can only miss a yesterday if you miss a today. And if you miss enough yesterdays and todays you are going to get in a jam by missing a tomorrow.
So best to keep a close eye on today. If you do, yesterday will take care of itself.
-- Michael Carey