The Waiting Game

Today I have been sentenced to waiting. I am a horrible "waiter". It does not matter if it is for a repair person, or appointments, or for my color to process at the salon...I am a horrible, awful, no good, very bad "waiter". Today my "wait" is for a package from FedEx. No, the contents are not for me. It is my beloved's fancy new phone that requires a signature upon its arrival. It would not matter if it were for me, I am a hideous "waiter". I would still be writing a complaint blog even if I were waiting for the delivery of a million dollar check. Yes, I would. I know myself....perhaps too well.

It does not matter that I can get loads of stuff done around the house. The bathrooms will be cleaned, the laundry will get laundered, the floors vacuumed, the dust removed...you get the idea. This is one of those times where it is the principle of waiting. Society has made me (and perhaps others you know) bad at waiting because it is just not needed everyday. One hundred years ago I would have waited for bread to rise before I baked it. Now, I drive to the store and buy a loaf of bread or two. One hundred years ago doing laundry would have been a whole day process, I would have been waiting for clothes to air dry. Do not get me started on how annoying air drying clothing is, I have passed up some pretty great clothes because they could not be machine washed and dried. I hate to wait. In an earlier time I would have perished waiting, of this I am certain.

My kids are bad at waiting as well. I often tell myself it is their age and in time they will be better. Maybe it is my age and I will get better too? Although, I know it is very unlikely. I no longer pray for patience, knowing that I will only be given opportunities to practice waiting and overcoming my frustration. I embrace that I am person that just does not like waiting. I live in a world that mostly does not make me wait, so I just need to deal with the occasions that waiting is unavoidable.

The upside of being a bad "waiter" is I am insanely punctual. If I say we will meet at 9am, you better believe I will be there at 9am (probably 8:55 am). Being "on time" is a great source of pride for me, not a boastful pride, but I feel that people can really count on me to not make them wait. There is some innate belief that every person's time is valuable that compels me to be punctual. I call if traffic or other circumstance detains me, however most of the time I build in time for these occurrences, which is why I am early. Knowing all of this would make you think I surround myself with like minded, on time, bad "waiters", right? Wrong. Some of my closest friends are chronically tardy. Crazy, huh? Oddly, I do not get mad at these people. I do lie about meeting times with them so they are closer to on time. Yes, I do tell some people I will pick them up at 6pm, fully knowing I will not pick them up until 6:30pm. This method keeps me from being frustrated by waiting for them, and watching them rushing about because their "on time" friend is rolling her eyes, again. I do not think of it as lying, but as preserving our friendship through creative time management. It is a win-win.

Now, if only I could convince FedEx not make me wait and show up....now....Now...NOW. Okay, so perhaps it won't work with them. At least I will have fabulously cleaned bathrooms whilst I wait.