Is it just me or do you find yourself waiting constantly? Isn’t life just a series full of waiting?
It seems there are several occasions where the waiting portions are back to back. For instance, going to the restaurant. Sometimes restaurants take reservations, so you can avoid that whole waiting 20-45 min to get a table. Then again, there are restaurants who don’t take reservations at all, especially on the weekends. You wait for a table, wait for the server to take your order, wait for your food, wait for the bill and then wait for the server to bring you back change or the portable debit/credit card machine.
Sounds exhausting, right? We go through ALL THIS because we didn’t feel like cooking.
Or what the whole process of boarding and getting off a flight?
Thank goodness for online check in. Unless you are a light traveller and only have a carry-on bag, you may potentially have to wait to check your other luggage. You want to make sure you are there well in advance for your flight, so of course there is always an hour or more of waiting. You wait to go through security and wait impatiently as the people in front of you take out the things that are CLEARLY not allowed on their carry on.
You wait to board the plane. You wait even longer because only business class people and people with children and disabilities go on first (which is fine, I’m just saying you have to wait for them). You wait to get a seat. You wait for the plane to take off. You wait till the seatbelt sign comes off so you can pee, but guess what, everyone else was thinking the same thing so you wait in the cramped little area in the back for your turn.
Once the plane lands, you wait to get off the plane, you wait for your luggage, you wait to go through customs and then FINALLY (!!) your vacation can begin.
Don’t even get me started, oh wait I’ll start on it anyway, on waiting in line at grocery stores. From Whole Foods to Costco to Wal-Mart, there is more often than not a line to wait in. My favourite moment is when you find the secret cashier that nobody else noticed has opened and you are the first in line with a ton of people behind you.
Express lines at Wal-Mart tend to be pretty long (Is there ever a time where Wal-Mart is not busy??). Even self-serve scan kiosks have developed waiting lines.
It’s pretty evident that sometimes waiting in line is just unavoidable.
Image Courtesy of David Castillo Dominici/FreeDitigalPhotos.Net
The general public considers themselves to be very busy and is always trying to make things more efficient. We want to do as much as we can in a short amount of time, because we consider ourselves to not have the time. Online banking and sending emails are just two of the many things that can be done on our smartphones.
I’m a pretty impatient person and long lines irritate the hell out of me.
What I don’t understand is why people will wait hours on end, even go as far as to camp out the night before (?!?!) to be the first in line to get a) concert tickets or b) the latest Apple product.
To me, this is wasted time because all that time I spent waiting; I could have clearly been doing a ton of other things on my to-do list.
I used to go to concerts a lot in high school, but I would never go as far as to wait hours in line to get a wristband or concert tickets. I didn’t feel it was worth it. The only time I have ever waited in line when something first came out was for one of the Harry Potter movies. My friends and I didn’t even end up sitting together.
Regarding waiting in line for Apple products, this is something I will never understand. The same way how people will wait outside in the freezing cold for Black Friday or Boxing Day sales. Is it really necessary to be one of the first groups of people to have it? Are you going to review it for everyone, so that they can decide whether or not they should buy it? Do you have to share with everyone on social media that you got the new iPhone 6?
Thanks for rubbing it in our faces.
As far as I know, there isn’t any announcement that there will be a limited supply of phones. I’m sure they will be on everyone’s wish list for Christmas. Six months later, it’ll be considered old news and you’ll have to fork over several hundred dollars for the next gadget to be up to date.
I also don’t get how a lot of bars and clubs make people wait in line in the freezing cold when there is room in the bar/club/lounge/hip spot. I hate how they try to create this illusion of that if there is a line, it’s obviously a happening place. As soon as you get it, it’s not even close to being filled to capacity. The bouncer wasted my time! I could have already been wasted and hit on by now (Haha. J/K).
This and many other reasons is why I don’t go clubbing anymore.
I totally agree. I hate waiting in line, and I try my hardest to avoid it. There are so many better things I could be doing with my time! I love it when I find that “secret cashier,” or when another register opens up. That makes my day.
I can’t get over the fact how much time I waste from waiting in line. It drives me insane. One of my local grocery stores has a clock right by the exit and I’m just constantly staring at it as I wait in line at the register.
So I’m guessing you’re not a fan of amusement parks then? 🙂
I don’t understand camping out for something. Perhaps I’m not passionate about anything to wait days on end doing nothing to be one of the first people to experience it. In a way that makes me jealous that I don’t care about anything that much, but at the same time I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.
I used to go a lot as a kid; every summer in fact during my high school years. These days, not so much. I remember waiting 1-2 hours in line just for a ride. I could easily spend the whole day there and only get on several rides.
I would never camp out for something. I like the comfort of being in inside and in my own bed. 🙂
It irks me, but it really depends on my mood on whether I’m okay with it or not. My biggest annoyance is generally being able to see other people that could open another till and start another queue, but don’t for unforeseen reasons. I actually really dislike crowds, so that becomes an issue when I’m basically stuck in a straight line of “crowd”.
I know! I almost want to scream at them, can’t you see that you need to open!!??! I wonder if they do it on purpose to piss us off.
This might be more a of a man thing (is that sexist?) but there is this amazing online men’s clothing company called Frank and Oak and all you have to do is select the styles and sizes and they deliver it to you. AMAZING! As a man, I can’t stand the time wasted going shopping. Why would I waste my time going around trying things on and walking to all these different stores when I can get everything under one roof with a few clicks and get it delivered to my door. That’s a company that knows what it’s doing!
I’m not that much of a shopper, but I would get annoyed at buying something online, trying it on, and then realizing it doesn’t fit and/or it looks completely different on me than from what I expected.
I tend to browse the online version of the stores ahead of time, so that when I go to the actual store, I have an idea of what I want already. So it saves me time from wandering around aimlessly in the store.
When it can’t be avoided, waiting in line is a good time to practice patience. Or look around and actually enjoy being forced to slow down (because for many of us, that’s what it takes.) I love talking to the baby in the cart in front of me, looking at the scenery at stoplights and just overall people watching. Most times we are so rushed we never really open our eyes.
Of course, that being said, staying away from anything so overly popular that it has a long line is a good idea. We should think for ourselves. Not just follow the herd. (How many times have I missed that open cashier just because I saw the other lines sticking out into the aisle and picked one of them not thinking to look into the rows?) And, there is no line for the outdoors. Trees, sky and sand is just there waiting most of the time. No line required. ; )
When it comes to waiting in line, I think it tests my patience. I’m not a naturally patient person to begin with.
It’s true though. We do need to slow things down a bit from time to time.