Since the world got canceled by COVID-19, the notion of “time” has become pretty flexible. Even people who are working from home are having trouble delineating the difference between weekends and weekdays, night and day. What are days of the week? What is structure? What is time management? All there is are the times when we are baking bread and times when we are not.
This Tumblr post by user rainbowkarofina, or Hanna, has gone viral for how perfectly it expresses this sudden dissolution of reality. She writes that her professor criticized her assignment for being late because it was due on Friday. I assume it was sometime after Friday that this was posted.
Hanna shared the email she wrote to her professor about it, arguing that nothing could be late in pandemic world.
She wrote:
Hello Phil, I am emailing you about our amino acid report that was due on “Friday.” Because of the actual pandemic we are in, I assumed that we were no longer keeping track of time or days, and honestly couldn’t tell you how long it’s been since I even remember experiencing a “Friday.” Honestly, I’m now only aware of Wednesdays, and that’s just because Survivor is on o Wednesdays… got i have something to provide structure to life ya know? I finished the assignment sometime around this “Friday” thing and I was hoping you would be chill enough to accept it. I don’t need like full credit but honestly my report is a bop so I would appreciate at least not failing. Hope you and the fam are staying healthy safe! Thanks, Hanna
Very reasonable in my opinion.
Her professor actually responded, and she shared that message, too. He wrote:
Hanna, I read your report, and I do agree it was a bop; however, I did have to ask my daughter what a bop was. I will not deduct points for being late on this occasion, because your report was exemplary, and your email was the only interesting thing to happen this week. In the future, I recommend looking at a calendar or your phone screen, as it should still have a date on it. Thank you for your concern about the health of my family and I, we are all doing well. Best, Professor C
The “only interesting thing to happen this week” is very real. A wild email is the most we can hope for in terms of excitement right now!
I don’t recommend using this excuse too much, but in a pinch, trying telling whoever has a problem with you that there is no longer a concept of time. They should understand.