Everyone is just waiting

Life is filled with a lot of waiting. And I have to admit, waiting is not something I do well.

I know they say (often and loudly):

Patience is a virtue.

Yep, it sure is. Just not one of mine.

So the last couple weeks of work have been extra stressful for me. Due to, you guessed it: WAITING.

This has caused me to realize that there are really many different kinds of waiting.

There's waiting for nothing in particular that is not important and there's no rush. This I can kinda sorta handle ok. Like waiting for a movie to start, or in line for a ride on vacation. Waiting is not my favorite thing to do, but there's no deadline on fun and so there are ways to pass the time and survive this kind of waiting. No blood pressure medication required.

Then there's hurry up and waiting. This is much worse. Because now there is a deadline. We have to hurry hurry hurry, but oh crap there's nothing I can do right now but sit, sit, sit, sit.And I do not like it, not one little bit.

Hurry up and waiting, bad as it is, can be made even worse if the wait is one of indeterminate length.

I have noticed that it is significantly easier to manage the wait if I know how long I will have to wait. 10 minutes? Drink and bathroom break. 45? Maybe I need a walk to relieve some of this stress. More than that? Start some other task that I can get a good run on.

But when what I am doing is critical, and I am stuck, and I have no idea how long I am going to be stuck, that is the worst. If you have no idea how long the wait is going to be and you have to hurry up and the next step is absolutely critical and really must be done now, you're screwed. You can't just walk away lest you miss the time when the waiting ends, but you can't just sit and wait either or steam starts coming out of your ears and your head starts to spin in demonic circles. It's just really not pretty. Or maybe that's just me.

Even worse is that feeling once that waiting is over that if I had only known I was going to have to wait THIS LONG, I could have gotten SO MUCH DONE. Oh but the risk of missing that moment where they waiting ended and getting even further behind on the hurrying. The never ending hurrying.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place...

...for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting. 

So, for those of us who just don't wait well. What exactly are we supposed to do when we have to wait?













































Why are you still reading?

Wait, did you think I had the answers? I was hoping you would give me the answers!

Guess I'll just keep on waiting.