Saturday, April 5, 2008

And we wait...and wait...

I do not have the scientific statistics, but am gonna go out on a limb and say that I have spent at least half if not 64 percent of my life "waiting."


It began before birth. Waiting to enter this world to get the party started!


And it continues many years later.


Earlier in my life, I just accepted it. Mom will be here any minute to fetch me from school....oh, my friends WILL call and tell me where to meet them....I wasted thousands and tens of thousands of hope-filled hours during the 'waiting factor.'


Today, I wait. Dominion East Ohio Gas claimed they would be here sometime between 8am and Noon. The ONLY day I have in months to sleep in, and I wait. And wait, and wait. It is 230pm and I am through waiting.


We have contractors finally finishing a project they started over TWO years ago! We wait!


For the last two weeks, I waited while our auto body shop juggled my car and Mom's car and took a bunch of money from us! That wait is over, until the next automotive emergency!


These days, for the most part, I do not acquiesce. If someone says they will call me, I don't believe them. When Mom says she is waiting for a call back from a company or a doctor or the medical insurance company, I tell her not to get her hopes up and continue whatever she is doing-- because more than likely, their "immediate call back" will come days later.


I cringe when I recount the hours I've spent waiting (and still do!) in doctors' offices with Mom, at hospitals waiting for doctors to come out of countless operating rooms with updates without substance...


I'm proud of how far I have come, how I've grown. If I have control over it, I wait for no one. Of course, you have the "no control" waits --in grocery lines, in traffic, delayed flights, restaurants, computers booting on, and those co-workers coming in to relieve you who just can't seem to synchronize their watch with the rest of the universe! I'm not sure WHY this happens, but it has happened time and again. The days I am leaving for vacation or have a long weekend, my relief is late OR NEVER EVEN SHOWS! I just have to laugh or I would cry!


I guess you get wiser with age. I've learned that some "waits" are inevitable. I take the road less traveled which is quicker. I know which restroom has the shortest wait, especially in the Terrace Club. Instead of trying to find a shorter grocery line, I wait because the line you switch to usually winds up moving at a snail's pace. I tolerate walking behind the older gentleman leaving the drug store because one day that older person will be ME and I sure hope someone will have patience with me! The smart ones don't get all hot under the collar, they utilize "the wait" time to their full advantage. Enjoy the place you are and the person you are with and just have fun while "waiting" for the next "wait."

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