Main Street Maury
COLUMBIA WEATHER

‘Old Hurry’ is not always the best advice




McCall

McCall

My late mother had a goodly number of favorite phrases. She prefaced many of them with the word “old.” On many an occasion she was quick to refer to “Old Have To.” If a difficult situation arose or a challenge was to be faced, she would say, “You can do about anything when Old Have To gets a hold of you.”

She was, of course, referring to the fact that love and/or dogged determination will find a way.

The same idea has been said in many ways over many years: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” “Necessity is the mother of invention,” “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” and many others. “Old Have To’” has saved the day in many a situation.

But for this column I want to consider “Old Hurry.”

It seems everybody is in a hurry these days. Of course we might expect that from the younger generation. Technology has ratcheted up the “speed” of life for the younger set to unimaginable new levels. And if the latest techno-gadget isn’t fast enough, a Red Bull or 5 Hour Energy is available to wind you up a little bit tighter.

 

 

But I’ve noticed even retirement age people are in a rush as well. It seems there is more to do and less time in which to get it done. It’s hard to “stop and smell the roses” when you are going so fast you don’t even notice they are there.

And, “Old Hurry” is taking its toll on us all. There’s an old saying which goes something like this: “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.” Makes me think of an old proverb: “Haste makes waste.”

I was searching for a misplaced item a while back. The more I searched the more frustrated I became. I found myself pressing to find it. The pace kept picking up. As in most cases of being in a hurry, I found myself not paying attention to details – like failing to close a cabinet door above me as I squatted to look in the shelves below.

At my age, you do not come up out of a squat slowly. It is just too painful.

Not finding the item of my search in the shelves below, I suddenly came up out of my squat. That’s when I found the cabinet door I had failed to close…with the top of my head!

I have not experienced such pain, nor seen so many stars, in many years. The blow sent me to my knees as I slapped my hand on top of my soon to be bleeding head. The red poured!

With my hand pressed hard against my aching head I went looking for my wife, Kathy.

“Come here and see what I have done to my head!” I greeted her.

As she peeled back my fingers to survey the damage, her first words were “Ooow, that doesn’t look so good!”

My family physician said we had two options – stitches or Super Glue. He opted for the glue. Oh, the wonders of modern medicine.

I don’t heal as fast as I used to. After spending too much time in the sun on the next day, it took me a week to get over that lick on my head. “Old Hurry,” indeed, exacted a price.

Please understand this little incident happened at a time in my life when I had made a renewed commitment to slowing down and paying more attention to detail.

One step forward, two steps back.

Our house sits inconspicuously on a hill on Church Street in Hartsville. Many people who have lived in Hartsville for years don’t even know it’s there.

Lately, I’ve been arriving home early just to sit under the carport in a straight-back, cane-bottomed chair and enjoy the breeze in the late afternoon. And sometimes I find myself in that chair late at night when a thunderstorms is passing through. Oh, I could find other things to do. But, I’ve decided to refuse to be in a hurry at day’s end. I’m determined that “Old Hurry” is not going to get the best of me.

Jack McCall is a motivational humorist, Southern storyteller and author. A native Middle Tennessean, he is recognized on the national stage as a “Certified Speaking Professional.” He can be reached at jack@jackmccall.com Copyright 2021 by Jack McCall.

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