MORE ON TINY MOMENTS

I poured water over the Placement Student today. I didn't mean to - I was asking him a question about reports. I pointed to his screen then moved my index finger down quickly, catching a glass on the way. It wobbled and fell, glugging water everywhere.

Another tiny moment where nothing happens. It lasted maybe half a second. Half a second of disbelief, of silence and shock.

Water seeped along his desk as I instinctively righted the glass before I blurted out, "I am SO sorry."

It was OK though. Because we're British, we both said something like: "Good job it was only water, eh?" to ease the tension, then I went off to the kitchen to get paper towels and I returned knowing full well that we would say no more about it.

Lots of things happen in half a second. Soundwaves travel 115m through the air, electricty shoots round 700 miles of circuit and light can travel a whopping 150,000km. That's halfway to the Moon.

That ocean of time is all it takes for me to realise I've accidentally poured water over someone.

What is it with these tiny moments? Do most people just forget about them? I seem fascinated by what happens, what doesn't happen when you're in one, and how you resolve it.

So much is down to how you react in a tiny moment - so much history is affected by which way the drawing pin lands, how the coin tumbles or which direction the water runs. One tiny change and everything could be different.

The Placement Student didn't seem to be in the mood for discussing the philosophy of tiny moments. He was a bit distracted I think, by his wet trousers.