I believe in the importance of wasting time. The notion of wasted time is most often used with its negative connotation: Procrastination, time that could/should have been used productively, or tasks that were not worth their trouble. This definition reminds me of when I waited hours at the DMV to renew tags for my mom, only to find out she had to present be present in order to renew them. My belief is not the importance of dull, unproductive hours, far from it. Through my eyes wasted time is all the moments where the weight and responsibilities of our worlds are lifted off our shoulders, and we are given the freedom to choose how to waste our time. The notion of wasted time also implies that there is time that is not wasted: productive time. Productive time is the time we spend facing responsibilities and working hard, usually this time is exhausting, but reaps some form of reward. Work is a fundamental human trait; we all do some form of work in order to provide for ourselves and those we love. Only through hours and days of working and improving upon ourselves can we achieve our most ambitious goals. The importance of wasting time does not undermine the importance of productivity, or the joy of providing for others. There is amusement in creating something or being able to see the fruits of our labor. The most fulfilling job I have worked at was as a cook at my father’s old restaurant Lakeside Grill. In December 2019, my dad opened a restaurant in Inverness, Florida. The restaurant had been closed for about a year when we got to it, most of the kitchen equipment had to be scraped with razors then scrubbed to remove all the grease and filth. Cleaning the patio was arguably worse than cleaning the kitchen, every single brick had grass and weeds growing and everything had to be pressure washed. It was all done by my mom, my dad, my brother (Robby), and I. To get things done faster we parked our RV beside the restaurant and spent some nights there, because we lived an hour away, in Ocala. Although cleaning the place was exhausting and by no means fun, it was intensely satisfying, and enjoyable in the sense that together we created something that was extraordinary. More importantly, we spent time together, in-between tasks, sharing meals, hanging out after working, and ending the night in the RV. The reason I look back fondly upon this memory is partially because of the product of our labor, and the skills learned in the process; but mostly because of the people I spent the time with, both productively and wastefully. Wasted time tastes a whole lot better when it follows time spent efficiently, and can often act as a silver-lining, or the light at the end of the tunnel. After it was cleaned up, we opened our very own restaurant, which brought us tremendous amounts of joy. Sadly, it was not long until covid-19 broke out which caused lockdowns, and lots of restrictions for restaurants. These restrictions were very fluid, for instance at one point there was no indoor seating, at one point take-out only, at one point 50% capacity, and eventually fully reopened. More impactful than restrictions were people’s desire to stay indoors, even after lockdowns. During this time, we also had lots of trouble finding help, so when we transitioned to online school for the rest of 2020, I found myself as a full time cook. Cooking was a fulfilling job and creating food that people enjoy is a fitting example of how productive time can be spent in a way that brings happiness and will not be regretted. But again, my memories are fond not because of the skills I learned and food I made. My best memories are of me and my dad wasting time together playing darts, or pool, or golf. Hanging out with his friends and joking around with the servers and the other cooks. Or the hours I spent wasted driving around in one of the golf carts for fun. A few times I even had my friends come up and stay in the RV, where we learned that giving sixteen year olds access to a fully stocked beer and liquor bar is possibly a bad idea. In these moments none of the stresses of my life mattered, and the sore spots created by these stresses were soothed, both physically and mentally.
The next summer I also worked around 5-6 days a week, but now I had a car, so I did not have to sleep in the RV anymore. Though I loved spending time with my dad, most nights I decided to make the hour commute back to Ocala. Financially this decision was beyond stupid, I drove my 2005 Jeep Wrangler, that google says gets 13 mpg; but I know for sure she burns more gas than that, as well as all the damages that came with adding tens of thousands of miles to a car that already had about 190,000 miles on the odometer. Most of these nights I would voyage back home, hopefully take a shower, then get on my computer, and stay up hours later than I would ever admit to my mother playing video games or just talking and laughing with my closest friends online. The time I spent at Lakeside was something I will never forget, and something I do not regret, but the work was still long and hard. I would typically arrive at either 11am or 12pm and work until close, which varied from 9 pm to whenever people in the restaurant stopped being hungry, and my, now 60-year-old father, has a knack for keeping people entertained and partying. So, making food until midnight or later was not uncommon, and these were the nights I was most likely to lay my head on the somewhat comfortable RV couch. Looking back, if I spent every night in the RV and never when home to waste hours playing video games, I would have certainly become exhausted and unable to continue. One major importance of wasting time is the importance of mental and physical rejuvenation. The way this is phrased sounds almost as if sleep is the best way to waste time, because it gives us mental and physical rest. Although sleep is important, it is not fulfilling, wasting time asleep is an important aspect of the importance of wasting time, but my belief is centered on the importance of spending hours in ways that bring fulfillment. Outside observers may look at the amount of time I have spent playing video games and see a wasted life, but that is not the case, almost very hour I have spent playing video games has been either an hour of laughs and jokes, talks about our biggest dreams, reminiscing on older times, and intellectual or serious conversations. Even I label these hours as “wasted time,” but I would be a completely different person without them, and they are as important to me as the most productive and impactful hours of my life. Wasted time is also a huge contributor to personal growth. The time we waste with others The ultimate goal of my belief is spending time in such a manner that little to none of it is regretted. Spending little time productively would lead to a life of little accomplishment and lots of regrets, just as spending little time wasted would lead to a life of loneliness and exhaustion. This means that productive time is just as important as wasted time, and a fulfilled life is the product of balancing the amount of time that is spent productively, and the amount of time wasted. One way of looking at it is that we are not only the product of our achievements and successes. Every second of our lives impacts who we are and who we will become, meaning how we spend our time nurtures not only our lives, but also our personalities. We are influenced as much by our dull everyday moments and time spent laughing, playing, and wasting time with those we love as we are our greatest achievements and hours spent working.
