On a typical morning, I drag myself out of bed (futon) and get dressed as quickly as humanly possible in a piontless attempt to ward off the cold that pervades the apartment. Somehow my early morning ministrations drag out longer than they should, and I end up at school at around 8:25.
Today, I showed up at 8:20. Previously I had this vision that I was the laziest teacher at the school, with every single other teacher arriving at least a half-hour before me to do mysterious and wonderful teacherly things. Instead, the 5 minutes this morning gave me a wonderful insight. 5 minutes earlier, the parking lot is filled with still-parking cars. The shoe-box area is not crowded but there are several teachers still arriving and changing their shoes to "school sandals." And in my own office, everybody has either just arrived or hasn't even arrived yet. I'm proud to say my misguided vision stands corrected.
It's funny what 5 minutes will do.