Those darn efficiency experts will tell you that you can only do one job at a time. It makes a lot of sense: Your brain can only comprehend so much at one time. You’ve heard all the advice about focusing on the most important job first for maximum results.
It is too bad that we don’t believe it.
Saturdays this time of year seem to have overloaded our brains and our wallets, too. College football will strain our mental and financial resources.
I got a telephone call from a friend who spends way too much time and effort on college football. He called to say that he was in Clemson watching a football game and watching another on TV. After watching the live game, he was going back to his motorhome to watch another game on the TV he brought. After supper, they would watch a fourth game.
That brought us to the present moment.
“What is the purpose of this conversation?”
“Oh, no they just missed a field goal!”
I didn’t find out which team missed the field goal. Who can be sure whether the report was on the live game or the one he was watching on TV? He also gets some kind of special report on his phone, too. There was a roar in the background and it was hard to hear the conversation.
Sixty thousand fans screaming will drown out a lot of conversation. Most of those 60,000 people probably have phone messages coming in about other games, also.
How can you concentrate knowing you spent $50 for a ticket and you are getting messages on your phone about other football games? Why would you spend $50 and not look at that game?
Somebody scored a touchdown. I didn’t catch who that was. I am almost sure it was one of the four teams he was actively playing. I say he was playing because he would occasionally call out the name of a player.
He would mention Jeff, Stan, Mike or Jim like I should know who they are. I’m still trying to get to the purpose of the call.
I told him to call me back on Monday when we didn’t have so much going on and I could hear him.
Later, I would find out he is getting a new TV that will play four football games at once. Now, if you want something confusing, try to watch that. Four games are playing; if you turn up the sound, you can hear four different announcers trying to describe what is going on and that constant roar of the crowd that makes you think you are at the game.
Someone is yelling “Awwh” or “Ohh” because something exciting happened.
I can’t follow it because Jimmy or Joey are unknown to me. I don’t even know what team they play for. As you can imagine, I haven’t gotten too excited about the season. Most of my friends who follow college football can name off 50 players and coaches and all sorts of statistics about them.
If only that brain power could be harnessed for good. I still haven’t seen a game this year on TV. I can probably catch up quickly if I go to my friend’s house and watch four games at one time.
Two weeks have passed since he called me. When I spoke to him, he said that he had forgotten why he called.
He was busy with three games and wanted to tell me something before he forgot.
Bobby Jonte is the president of the Bank of Greeleyville.
