In Defence of the Slow Clock
Two minutes slow on purpose, corrected once by mistake, re-slowed by choice.
The Resting Hall clock has run two minutes slow since 1934. The house manual of that year notes it without explanation, which suggests the reason was obvious: a resting room that keeps exact time is a waiting room. Two minutes is not enough to be wrong and just enough to be kind.
In 1968 the clock was corrected, once, by a visiting horologist who assumed the house would be grateful. The correction lasted one afternoon. The log records a meeting of the stewards that evening, the resolution that the clock would be re-slowed "for the latecomers", and the plaque that followed within the week. The horologist, to his credit, sent a card agreeing.
Guests notice the plaque and assume it is a joke. It is a policy. The last ten minutes of a session belong to nobody, and the clock quietly returns them.
Demonstration: this article and its history are invented.