I will wait for you...

I took a bus to get home today and something that I reflected on before I climbed on was just how different, civilized, mannerly, mindful and disciplined people were. No one jostled, pushed, clambered to get seats first. Everyone, including young children thanked the driver when getting off. That is different to where I came from isn’t it? I remembered the time I used to travel in the CTB buses. No. I think I shall block those out of my memory. The reek of stale sweat seeps into my grey matter even now.

Then it occurred to me that half of my life is spent waiting. I was waiting for the bus at the time of this astute revelation. Fortunately, here, every bus is almost always on time. And the waiting is if you get there early or your have missed the previous one. Then of course elevators are different. I end up waiting for loads to empty and then I think that they might be hiding in the basement, snickering like children and just waiting until

I get halfway up the stairs to speed up to my floor, ding the bell, and pop open when it is too late.

I also spend a great deal of time waiting in traffic. I’m not an impatient person. Some delay in life is unavoidable. As I wait in traffic, or in a line, my life keeps slipping by without me. I sometime feel that I might leave home in the morning a normal elderly woman and arrive at work years later, a wrinkled and gray old codger. When they ask me what happened, I will say, “The traffic was murder today. Worst commute I ever had.”

I’ve read helpful time management hints, which suggest taking things with you to do while waiting. Then when unexpectedly delayed, there is something productive to do with the time.

Great idea, but I usually forget to take anything. I did try balancing my checkbook while waiting in the doctor’s office once. The man waiting next to me kept looking out of the corner of his eye to see what my balance was. Also, I really hated having the whole waiting room see me nearly cry when I couldn’t get things to balance.

For a while, I carried a paperback book in my purse which I could whip out and read. I picked up that helpful suggestion in a time management class also. It really doesn’t work too well. Just as I get to the juicy part, I am at the front of the line, breathing hard, and then can’t remember what I wanted because I’m still thinking about the book. Anyhow, the line at the post office is usually just long enough to be inconvenient, not long enough to get much reading done.

My newest aggravation with waiting is at the pharmacy. Not too many of us seem to be able to get a few years past prime without having a pill of some sort or another that is necessary to keep us ticking. There is always a line at the pickup window, and the person at the front of it always has a question about their medicine, a problem with their insurance, or wants to stand and chat with the pharmacist assistant about their ailment. Good grief, lady, can’t you see there are 8 people in line? Who cares about your gall bladder?

Lines and waits seem to be a part of the inevitable future on our over-crowded planet. No matter what we want to do, if it is worth doing, it must be worth waiting in line.

I thought I had learned patience long ago. It was a part of my higher education. They taught us patience in college by having us stand in long waiting lines to register.

I wonder if the necessity of unavoidable waits is a large part of our affair with the cell phone. It is something to do while waiting. We can always use the time to text home and say, “I’ll be late.” Well, I might as well get used to it. “Time lost is gone forever,” as they say in the book of familiar quotations. Maybe I’ll just be like the little old ladies who carry their knitting wherever they go. I could probably knit sweaters. Of course, I’ll have to learn to knit first. It all seems so hopeless. If you have any suggestions, be sure to let me know. I’ll be waiting….

So until we meet again soon,

I will wait for you.