On Making Plans

Spontaneity can be a wonderful way to break up the everyday humdrum activities, and is necessary every now and then to breathe new life into us by steering away from monotony. However, even the most spontaneous require some structure in their lives. Unpredictable behavior can only occur on occasion, and cannot be used as a foundation on which to base one's life. Consequently, plans become a necessity. Although this should not pose a problem, the amount of people that seem incapable of making plans and following through is staggering.

Ten years ago plans did not seem to go awry as often as they do today. Of course, without actually having any recorded data, there is no way to know this for certain. But I truly believe that people have lost the ability to make firm plans. How can this be?

In this age of technology, one would think that making plans would be much easier. There are now so many ways to communicate, it should be a cinch to get together with people. But this is not the case. Perhaps the technology has a hand in this, as counter intuitive as that may seem. After all, even the most active people can sometimes succumb to laziness. With all of the technology, people have the luxury of procrastinating before telling someone that they have to cancel. They can also take advantage by meeting up much later than the scheduled time or at a different location. Thanks to the cell phone, people now go to a general area and call to see where everyone is hanging out. Oftentimes I get off the subway to meet someone at a particular location, and as soon as I am above ground I receive a text message instructing me to go somewhere completely different.

Another problem when making plans is the person that decides to schedule a few outings at the same date and time with different groups. I shall discuss this type of person in a future rant on a separate topic, but for now suffice it to say that the word "yes" should be replaced with the word "maybe." I understand the desire to leave options open and choose later on. But if this is the original plan, why commit to everything? Saying "yes" when you really mean "maybe," or even in some cases "no," is just plain wrong. Those that change plans in midstream are far more preferable. At least in that case the end result is that everyone still gets together, albeit in a very haphazard way.

In conclusion, I'm just a bit annoyed that everyone has lost the ability to make plans. I suppose times change and I must learn to change with them. But if you are asked to attend something and you don't know if you will be able to make it, say so! Don't tell people "yes" knowing full well that you don't mean it!