Two P.M.
Two p.m. is an inauspicious time. No — there’s no halfway through, or halfway from. Starting at noon or starting at 1:00, it makes no difference. Two p.m. languishes in the same non-urgent, no-account hour as say, 9 a.m. Not much going on. “Hey, Marvin, can I have that report by 2 p.m.?” It doesn’t sound nearly as pressing as, “Marvin! I need that report by noon!” And so 2 p.m. sits on the clock and looks longingly at 1 p.m. and then at 3 p.m. and wishes it were anything but itself.
One day, a military strategist comes along and says, “Two o’clock is imprecise. Let’s make a twenty-four hour clock.” And so, lowly 2 p.m. became “fourteen hundred hours.” Now, there’s a time that struts. There’s a time that salutes. There’s a time that sergeants can bellow across a room and not sound like a sissy. “I’ll see you at fourteen hundred hours, soldier.” And he means that you should be there fifteen minutes before, or “Soldier, you’re late.”
2pm is my favorite part of the day. It is a time after busy people have had their late lunch at 1:30 and they take a breather. Finely articulated, your description is beautifully filled with imagery that reminds me of my Father who was 82nd Airborne (now passed). He would have loved your writing, as do I. Thank you for calming my horrible day with a lovely blog entry. 2pm was the highlight of my day, then it went south pretty quickly. “That’ll learn me”….take a deposit! Next time as this was a holiday special pricing package. Thanks Santa! Thanks alot….