Opinion: Now you can say it’s over

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Commentary by Jon Quick

“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” Yogi Berra. Makes perfect sense to me. A marketing client of mine first brought this up the other day.

“Where has the time gone?” everyone asks. “Can’t believe it’s October already,” they say.

It does seem like time flies even faster the older we get. In fact, there is a lot of scientific evidence that says so. As early as 1890 in Scientific American, psychologist William James wrote that as we age, time seems to speed up because adulthood is accompanied by fewer and fewer memorable events. When the passage of time is measured by “firsts” (first kiss, first day of school, first family vacation), the lack of new experiences in adulthood, James morosely argues, causes “the days and weeks (to) smooth themselves out … and the years grow hollow and collapse.”

So why make it go faster? The calendar says that autumn started officially Sept. 22.

But it seems like the day after school closes, the discount stores already have back-to-school items stocked. I know, I know. Some kids go to school literally year-round now. Which I think is wrong. Sorry. Kids deserve a long summer vacation. Let them make those memories which will last them a lifetime.

Then I hear a reporter friend on a local TV station say, in late July, “As we approach summer’s end, it’s time to … (blah blah).” “In these final weeks of summer, we need to (blah blah).” What? In both cases summer still had weeks and weeks to go. Then, there are the end-of-summer sales in early August. About the same time the Halloween stuff started appearing in the stores. The Christmas stuff is next.

Why the rush? When the temp is sub-zero in January, we pray for summer to come. Then, when it comes in mid-June, it’s ‘almost over.’

The cliché, “Enjoy each day as if it were your last,” also applies here.

So, let’s slow down. And have a good day.

Jon Quick is President of the Carmel-based marketing and public relations firm, Q Public Relations & Marketing. You can reach him at [email protected]. He is a former 25-plus-year manager at both CBS and Emmis Communications.


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