A Meditation on Waiting

I hate waiting.

Were you waiting for that?

Yeah, that's right. I hate waiting. I hate waiting in line. I hate waiting for the phone to ring. I hate waiting for people who are late. I hate waiting on hold for customer service. I hate waiting for things to happen. I hate waiting for people to speak up. I hate waiting for the subway. I hate waiting for the bus. I hate waiting for the donuts. (I hate donuts, therefore I also hate waiting for them.) I hate waiting tables. I hate waiting for lights to change. I hate waiting for answers. I hate waiting for people to change. I hate waiting for someone to get to the point. I hate waiting for someone to make up their mind. I hate indecision of any kind.

Ha Jin, one of my favorite authors, wrote a whole book about waiting, called Waiting. I did not hate it. I hated the main character though for being so pathetic about waiting.

Good things do not happen to those who wait. I know this to be true because those people get tired of waiting and go do something else and then forget that they were waiting for anything in the first place.

I am not impatient. I just like shit to do what it's supposed to. I like people following through on what they say. I like happy endings. I also like sad endings. However I don't like waiting around for things to end.

In sum, time is precious. Waiting around is maddening. I am now mad that you are still here reading, waiting for something else.