2023-06-18 03:01:00
Is time a human invention or an absolute and universal magnitude?
The concept itself and the ways of measuring it have been defined in various ways throughout history.
At the height of rationalism (17th century), Isaac Newton asserted that it was necessary to consider time as “a solid condition of nature that made it possible to measure the speed and distance reached by a moving object.”
In the last century, Albert Einstein proposed that “time varies depending on the movement of the observer and the force of gravity.” And he ironized: “Time is nothing more than a stubbornly persistent illusion.”
And although there are general agreements on how to name periods and intervals, communities subsist that are not governed by hours, months or years, but choose times defined by the position of the sun, the differentiation between dry and rainy seasons, and individual maturational stages not conditioned by clocks or birthdays.
As expected, childhood proposes another way of measuring time.
—
I have cared for Felipe since he was born. At each medical check-up, he confirmed his ability to grow healthy, restless and curious.
At one year of age, he was already walking independently, which allowed him to explore the office and each of its corners.
He opened drawers, jumped on the scales, explored decorations and, as soon as he might, he appropriated my work instruments: the tape measure, the stethoscope, the blood pressure monitor… He manipulated them, licked them and tried to disarm them.
Years and medical check-ups passed. According to his parents, Felipe celebrated coming to the office “to play with different things.”
One day he discovered my ink pen.
I’ve been using fountain pens for as long as I can remember; I enjoy the elegance of its design, the subtlety of the lines and, in particular, the nostalgia that they convey for a time when things were done forever.
At that time, I used a Parker 61, with a striking turquoise color and a gold cap, which Felipe preferred over all other “toys”.
As soon as he entered the office, he pounced on the pen begging to be given it to him.
I always answered the same: “Not today, Felipe; I need it to work.” And he added: “Later, when you know how to use it.”
No argument stopped his desire to appropriate Parker, so I – while I kept her safe – appealed to a phrase that, over time, became a catchphrase with other patients who asked for similar gifts: “Not today; when you receive a doctor “.
Felipe did not concede; he was offended and, before leaving, he gave me a withering look, reaffirming my status as a debtor.
The encounters continued until he was 16 years old; and the scene was repeated. “When you receive yourself; not now” I said, and he frowned.
Graduated from my office, we stopped seeing each other.
Years later, someone knocked on my office door.
He was a tall man, somewhat thin, with a thick mustache and glasses.
“Good evening,” he said. He knows who I am?”
“No,” I answered sincerely.
“I’m Felipe. Yesterday I passed the last Medicine subject; I come for the pen.”
It all lasted a few seconds: the long, trembling embrace between them, her mother’s uncontrollable tears, looking for a pen and giving it to her.
—
I continue to use clocks, almanacs and punctually celebrate parties and anniversaries; I measure time like everyone else.
I’ve only included one other way: the one that marks the moving journey of every child’s life that I peek into.
* Doctor
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