What is Waiting? How we relate to Time

Please arrive at 6:45pm to order your drinks/food so that we can start the event at 7pm with minimum interruption. Thank you.

In our current world of market economy, where attention spans are short, efficiency is currency and time, a scarce commodity, waiting, at best is boring; at worst, it causes anxiety, frustration and uncertainty. Time is money and waiting is a waste of time and money.

We feel like we are always waiting; for friends to arrive, for food at restaurants, lineups at the grocery store, at the airports, coffee shops, for the doctor’s appointment, for traffic to clear up, for good times and bad times. We want faster internet and our texts to be answered, asap.

In life, we are always waiting: for something, for someone, for signs, for Godot, for good times, and bad times, and for your life to change.

Life may be football, but life is (also) waiting.

So, why is waiting so unacceptable? Have we always been so intolerant of waiting? If not, what has changed to make us feel this way about waiting? How do you feel about waiting in general? And how is waiting related to time?

What does waiting mean to you?