Waiting

This one is dedicated to Kelly….

Why is it that when you really want to do something pleasant but you can’t until something else has happened, that ‘something else’ takes forever? It’s that old adage ‘a watched pot never boils’ isn’t it? Like when you want to go to bed but have to wait until the washer is finished so you can switch it off. (I never go to bed and leave the washer or tumble drier on……I’ve seen so many cases of fires breaking out.)  Or it might be that you are waiting for an important call and the phone on the table in front of you just doesn’t spring into life no matter how hard you stare at it? I actually don’t find it easy to wait for things. Once I have decided to do something, I need to get on with it straightaway. Waiting for the postman (or should that now be ‘postperson’?) when you are expecting an important letter, waiting for BT to actually put a phone line in for you, waiting for the item you ordered online which then turns out to be out of stock and not available for five weeks – these are all enough to make my blood boil.

Some types of waiting really don’t annoy me though. Waiting for a doctor or to see a consultant is one example. I regularly attend a rheumatology clinic where the doctor is always over-running. People in the waiting room groan and grumble and are sometimes downright rude. The thing is, she is a good doctor. She gives each patient the time they need to fully discuss their problems. She doesn’t adhere to the strict time schedule that some guy in a crisp suit, sitting behind a leather-topped desk has organised for her. I know that when I finally get in to see her, she will give me whatever time I need – that may be thirty seconds or it may be twenty minutes. Because of that, I am happy to wait (and have waited over two hours before) because she cares about her patients.

That sort of waiting is a good sort. Which type of ‘waiting’ gets you annoyed then?