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26 Cheshvan 5765 - November 10, 2004 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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Home and Family

It's already Parshas Toldos and this article has been sitting by me since last February...

Procrastination
by Gita Gordon

The winter rains have come and still, the last remains of Succos lies on the balcony: the steel poles making up the succa. Years of experience have taught me to quickly put away the bamboo roofing before the winter rains come down. The canvas, too, is easily folded and stowed away. The wooden planks that help hold up the schach are quickly taken to the downstairs storeroom. Why is it, then, that every year I have the same problem: these heavy steel supports lie rusting in the rain?

I think each time of our first apartment in Israel. It was a one-bedroom vacation apartment, and the roof above came with it. However, when we took over, the roof was covered with rubble, brick-sized pieces of cement. When we returned home after purchasing the apartment, a good client heard about it and asked if he could use it for his next Yom Tov since he knew we would be gone. The place was standing empty, so we had no problem.

"It has a good sunroof, but unfortunately, there is rubble all over it. Sorry about that," we said.

When we next went, we found the roof completely clear, no rubble at all. On our return, we asked the man about it.

"Oh, I cleared it. I wanted to thank you in some way for letting us use the place. We have wanted to go away for so many years, but I just don't like staying in hotels. This was perfect."

"But it was our pleasure and so much work was involved!"

"Oh, no. It wasn't really work. You see, each time I went down, I took one piece. By the time we left, it was clear."

So that has become our family phrase for jobs we don't want to do. "Each time I took one piece," we chorus.

So now I look at the pieces and make this resolution; each time I go downstairs, I will take just one piece to the storeroom. Hopefully, the job will soon be done.

[Another tip for shirkers to chorus to one another: Jobs / chores you don't like should be done quickly and soon.]

 

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