My Problem is that I Think I Have Time

This was coming from the car radio — probably NPR: …women are still doing more physical work around the house but there is also mental labor…a woman is a logistics central of the house, keeping track of everything and everyone… These were not the exact words but that newly verbalized concept of “logistics central” made me pull over and listen to the end of the interview. The woman was Brigid Schulte, the author of “Overwhelmed,” a new book about time and life. “Overwhelmed” was on Amazon and I started reading it right there and then.

“It is just after 10 a.m. on a Tuesday and I am racing down Route 1 in College Park, Maryland. The Check Engine light is on. The car tax sticker on my windshield has expired. The cell phone I’d just been using to talk to one of my kids’ teachers has disappeared into the seat crack. And I’m late.”

My car is part of the race on Route 17 in Paramus, NJ. My Low Tire Pressure light is on, the fog light cover from the driver’s side is lying on the floor next to me. There are three lists on the passenger seat “to do,” “to get,” “to contact.” Not much has been crossed off. And as always, I am late. That Easter, our extended family told us the dinner would start half an hour earlier than the actual time to make sure I am on time. Sort of.

The further I am getting now into the book, the more I feel that this woman was following me around and keeping track of my mistakes and mishaps. I am more than halfway through it and keep reciting paragraphs to entertain my husband. This book is an attempt to record what we are doing to ourselves, to understand why, and to see if there is a way out. “Overwhelmed” is funny, it’s true. It’s so worth to slow down and check where does life go.