I had lunch at P*nera, today. Any of y'all who have ever been to P*nera or any other restaurant/cafe like it understand that it can get crazy at lunch time. I was there to meet with my December bride so we could hammer out some of the details of the ceremony and such. All three registers were open and they were moving folks through the lines as quickly as they could. They were doing a good job of it. I was about to move to the next vacant register but was cut off by a lady who had just walked in and went to that same open register. She had a pick up order...but there is no line dedicated strictly for carry-out, so the young man behind the register politely asked her to go to the back of the line. This didn't sit well with her...."Well, that's just RIDICULOUS!" She did do as she was asked, but she wasn't at all happy about it.
So....what is it? Why don't we like to wait? Better still, why is it that in certain situations we will wait patiently and without complaint, but in other situations if the expected outcome doesn't happen five minutes from yesterday, our proverbial undergarments get into the proverbial uncomfortable arrangement? And when I say "we", I'm including me/myself/and I! People will wait for HOURS to get an autograph/take a picture with a celebrated athlete. On a certain day over this summer, some people waited for more than an hour at a time to get lunch from a certain chicken restaurant. People camp out for concert/movie/sporting tickets all the time and often, go to great lengths to make a party out of it. What about Black Friday? Some folks don't even go to bed Thanksgiving night...some will wake up at 2am and go get in line at a store that doesn't open for five more hours...just for the chance of scoring a bargain. Our patience seems to be conditional. We can be patient when it suits us...when it is most convenient for us...for me/myself/and I.
We've ruined our ability to wait with grace and decorum with things like drive thru windows of every variety, the microwave, On-Demand tv, express/overnight delivery service, faster browsing systems/service providers that make obsolete what was brand new just six months ago, fax machines, email....all of it. These cursed blessings have led us to look at ourselves with over-inflated self importance. "I don't have to wait in line at that cafe...why should i have to wait in line here?" I'm coming to believe that patience...the ability to wait...is a lost and dying art.
That lady at P*nera was only in line about three minutes and once she was in the door, she was out the door before ten had expired. Just long enough for her to get her bagels....and show out. Just long enough to provide me with a little blog food.
For which, I'd been waiting.
So....what is it? Why don't we like to wait? Better still, why is it that in certain situations we will wait patiently and without complaint, but in other situations if the expected outcome doesn't happen five minutes from yesterday, our proverbial undergarments get into the proverbial uncomfortable arrangement? And when I say "we", I'm including me/myself/and I! People will wait for HOURS to get an autograph/take a picture with a celebrated athlete. On a certain day over this summer, some people waited for more than an hour at a time to get lunch from a certain chicken restaurant. People camp out for concert/movie/sporting tickets all the time and often, go to great lengths to make a party out of it. What about Black Friday? Some folks don't even go to bed Thanksgiving night...some will wake up at 2am and go get in line at a store that doesn't open for five more hours...just for the chance of scoring a bargain. Our patience seems to be conditional. We can be patient when it suits us...when it is most convenient for us...for me/myself/and I.
We've ruined our ability to wait with grace and decorum with things like drive thru windows of every variety, the microwave, On-Demand tv, express/overnight delivery service, faster browsing systems/service providers that make obsolete what was brand new just six months ago, fax machines, email....all of it. These cursed blessings have led us to look at ourselves with over-inflated self importance. "I don't have to wait in line at that cafe...why should i have to wait in line here?" I'm coming to believe that patience...the ability to wait...is a lost and dying art.
That lady at P*nera was only in line about three minutes and once she was in the door, she was out the door before ten had expired. Just long enough for her to get her bagels....and show out. Just long enough to provide me with a little blog food.
For which, I'd been waiting.
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