Wednesday, September 14, 2005
TIME GOES SLOW FOR GARY CARTER
I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Carter has absolutely no perception of time. At least of its length and it’s passing.
He was talking again today about Mike (one of Clint's "running buddies" and probably the person closest to him out here) and how strange it was for him to be gone so long and how he has never been gone this long before and how he has been put away in jail before and Carter’s is usually the first stop he makes when he gets out.
So, in order to test what length of time really meant to him, I asked, “So, when’s the last time you saw Mike?”
And he said, “Nine or ten…maybe eleven months.”
And I said, “Oh, that is a long time. Did he disappear before Clint did?”
And he said, “Well, it was probably around the same time if not a little before or a little after.”
Now, here’s what I’m thinking…there is simply no way that Mike has been gone ten or eleven months…even nine. It has only been ten months since I met Clint…if Mike disappeared ten or eleven months ago…that is sometime last year. In the beginning of November or October. We know several reasons why he cannot have been gone that long:
1) There have been people in and out of the garage up until a few months ago. Granted, these could be other people, but even in April, Carter was talking about how Clint’s best friend had been in (and we know at this point, that has to be Mike).
2) If Mike disappeared in October or November of last year, that was essentially 5 months before Clint disappeared. That is the period of time we know Clint was down at the garage. There is no way that Carter would not have asked Clint where Mike was during that period of time since we know Clint was there.
3) Carter says that Mike disappeared ten or so months ago from the garage but he also says that is around the time that Clint disappeared. We know that Clint only disappeared from the garage less than 6 months ago. That means Mike has only been gone for six months at the most…putting his disappearance around April…if not a little later. Carter has said that Mike has been put away in jail for six months at a time before. So, his being gone six months now should not seem that unusual.
Why this discrepancy? Some people would say it is because Carter is lying…making up the entire thing. I would say the whole thing actually makes perfect sense as long as you take into account that time perception and it’s passing is relative depending on people’s emotions and situations. We all know that time seems to pass more quickly or slowly at times. Sometimes, it speeds by so quickly, a year passes and it feels like you have barely blinked your eyes. This is usually when life has become mundane … ordinary…routine.
However, when life changes…something new happens…the passing of time begins to take on meaning. We only know how much time has passed since I met Clint or since he disappeared from the garage because we know those exact dates and can calculate the exact number of days.
But with Carter, you essentially have this local mechanic who has been sitting down there in the shop for years…nothing changes…everything is always the same. The boys come in and out. They work on deals from time to time like they always do. Sometimes, Mike goes away to jail for several months at a time. Clint goes in and out of town. Sometimes, the boys are down there day in and day out to the point they become a “nuisance” at the shop. Sometimes, they’re gone for awhile because there are no new deals to work on. Then they come back. But during all of this, no one is sitting there calculating these cycles or the time that is passing. It’s all relative…because it’s all routine.
Then something happens…
We show up. Around the time Clint leaves town. And Mike goes to jail. Now, time begins to pass by differently for Carter. Because now he’s waiting for something. For Resolution. For The Return. For the Road to Recovery, as he calls it.
What has only really been a little less than six months, feels like a year to him. To a man who has never really been that aware of the passing of time before.
Like the child waiting for Christmas or the last day of school before summer vacation. We all know it. Eleven months of the year pass by quickly. It’s those last couple of weeks that are a bitch. That just go so excruciatingly slow…as you’re waiting for that thing you want so badly.
Carter’s never noticed time until we showed up and gave him a reason to. Now he labors over the fact that the boys have been gone so long. But they’ve probably been gone for long periods in the past (since we know Mike has been in jail for up to six months at a time before). Maybe not this long…true…but this disappearance may not be all that unusual. It’s just that he’s never noticed it before. He’s never really had a reason to.
He still believes they’re coming back. I do too. At that point, all of these questions we have will finally be answered. I only hope that comes soon.
I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Carter has absolutely no perception of time. At least of its length and it’s passing.
He was talking again today about Mike (one of Clint's "running buddies" and probably the person closest to him out here) and how strange it was for him to be gone so long and how he has never been gone this long before and how he has been put away in jail before and Carter’s is usually the first stop he makes when he gets out.
So, in order to test what length of time really meant to him, I asked, “So, when’s the last time you saw Mike?”
And he said, “Nine or ten…maybe eleven months.”
And I said, “Oh, that is a long time. Did he disappear before Clint did?”
And he said, “Well, it was probably around the same time if not a little before or a little after.”
Now, here’s what I’m thinking…there is simply no way that Mike has been gone ten or eleven months…even nine. It has only been ten months since I met Clint…if Mike disappeared ten or eleven months ago…that is sometime last year. In the beginning of November or October. We know several reasons why he cannot have been gone that long:
1) There have been people in and out of the garage up until a few months ago. Granted, these could be other people, but even in April, Carter was talking about how Clint’s best friend had been in (and we know at this point, that has to be Mike).
2) If Mike disappeared in October or November of last year, that was essentially 5 months before Clint disappeared. That is the period of time we know Clint was down at the garage. There is no way that Carter would not have asked Clint where Mike was during that period of time since we know Clint was there.
3) Carter says that Mike disappeared ten or so months ago from the garage but he also says that is around the time that Clint disappeared. We know that Clint only disappeared from the garage less than 6 months ago. That means Mike has only been gone for six months at the most…putting his disappearance around April…if not a little later. Carter has said that Mike has been put away in jail for six months at a time before. So, his being gone six months now should not seem that unusual.
Why this discrepancy? Some people would say it is because Carter is lying…making up the entire thing. I would say the whole thing actually makes perfect sense as long as you take into account that time perception and it’s passing is relative depending on people’s emotions and situations. We all know that time seems to pass more quickly or slowly at times. Sometimes, it speeds by so quickly, a year passes and it feels like you have barely blinked your eyes. This is usually when life has become mundane … ordinary…routine.
However, when life changes…something new happens…the passing of time begins to take on meaning. We only know how much time has passed since I met Clint or since he disappeared from the garage because we know those exact dates and can calculate the exact number of days.
But with Carter, you essentially have this local mechanic who has been sitting down there in the shop for years…nothing changes…everything is always the same. The boys come in and out. They work on deals from time to time like they always do. Sometimes, Mike goes away to jail for several months at a time. Clint goes in and out of town. Sometimes, the boys are down there day in and day out to the point they become a “nuisance” at the shop. Sometimes, they’re gone for awhile because there are no new deals to work on. Then they come back. But during all of this, no one is sitting there calculating these cycles or the time that is passing. It’s all relative…because it’s all routine.
Then something happens…
We show up. Around the time Clint leaves town. And Mike goes to jail. Now, time begins to pass by differently for Carter. Because now he’s waiting for something. For Resolution. For The Return. For the Road to Recovery, as he calls it.
What has only really been a little less than six months, feels like a year to him. To a man who has never really been that aware of the passing of time before.
Like the child waiting for Christmas or the last day of school before summer vacation. We all know it. Eleven months of the year pass by quickly. It’s those last couple of weeks that are a bitch. That just go so excruciatingly slow…as you’re waiting for that thing you want so badly.
Carter’s never noticed time until we showed up and gave him a reason to. Now he labors over the fact that the boys have been gone so long. But they’ve probably been gone for long periods in the past (since we know Mike has been in jail for up to six months at a time before). Maybe not this long…true…but this disappearance may not be all that unusual. It’s just that he’s never noticed it before. He’s never really had a reason to.
He still believes they’re coming back. I do too. At that point, all of these questions we have will finally be answered. I only hope that comes soon.
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