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On their weekly Thursday night dinner, friends and suitemates Rachel Willis ’13 and Allison McPherson ’13 once more wondered at how time passes so quickly. Although time elapses at a constant rate, its perceived speed was a source of astonishment for these dinner companions.
Though at first Willis and McPherson chatted about their homework and extracurriculars as they ate, the conversation quickly surpassed these trivial matters, as the friends began to marvel at the phenomenon of time elapsing.
“I can’t believe it’s already December,” said Willis, who in previous dinners was equally stunned by the arrival of September, October, and November. The phenomenon of atmospheric change in correspondence to the month also caused the companions wonder. “It used to be so warm. But now it’s so cold.”
The chilly weather led them to reminisce about the warm days of summer, which to Willis seemed like just yesterday, but which to McPherson seemed long ago. The companions were confounded by the realization that one day, summer would come again, most likely in the months of June, July, and August.
Consequently, McPherson realized that one day, she would graduate from Brown, and no longer be living in Young Orchard #2, and in fact everything that comprised her life right now was a temporary construction that would be shattered by one omnipotent force: time.
“I can’t believe we won’t be here next year,” she said to Willis. “Where do you think you’ll be? Are you still looking for jobs in Boston?”
While McPherson confirmed that she was looking for jobs in Boston, she acknowledged that all-powerful time and its shroud of uncertainty might bring her as far as New York, San Francisco, or Katmandu.
When pressed about Katmandu, McPherson could only say that time works in mysterious ways.
After a silence filled only by chewing, the companions observed that while every moment in their lives up until now seemed to have elapsed so quickly, only five minutes had elapsed since they sat down together and commenced the meal.
The friends spent the remainder of their dinner marveling at the whiteness of snow, the warmth of their central heating system and how at night, it gets dark outside.
