Which of the following activities would waste the most time? a. rich tries to multitask writing a report and reading a memo, and has to re-write the report and re-read the memo, which takes an hour. b. during a departmental meeting, barry and scott make small talk for twenty minutes while the other six meeting members sit and listen c. greg asks tony a question about work and then talks to him for ten minutes about whether the game tonight. d. barbara composes an e-mail during her thirty minute train ride to work

b. During a departmental meeting, Barry and Scott make small talk for twenty minutes while the other six meeting members sit and listen.

Sometimes, it can be difficult to notice when we are wasting time. This is particularly true in business situations, but this is where every minute matters. In these cases, option B is the one that wastes the most time, as it involves eight people. Although Barry and Scott probably think that twenty minutes of small talk is not a big problem, as so many people cannot continue their work, it accumulates to create over two hours of wasted time.

"it's more of an essay than story, but perhaps it is best described as a mood-piece: it uses a lot of musical imagery, not to mention sea imagery, religious imagery, and any other imagery that suits his purpose."