No, Wait
I hate waiting.
I hate waiting for meetings to start, especially if they don’t start on time. I hate to wait in a line in the cafeteria. I hate to wait for someone’s voicemail to prattle on with information that I don’t need to know.
I called a colleague the other day, and got a message that went something like this:
“Hi, you’ve reached Bob Smith.”
(OK, let me stop right there. I obviously haven’t reached Bob Smith, unless Bob likes to talk about himself in third person, ala Bob Dole. It was kind of quaint when Bob Dole did it. Bob Smith isn’t that interesting.)
“Today is Friday, September 21. I’m in the office, but away from my desk right now.”
(Is he really away from his desk? I would presume he’s away from his desk if he didn’t answer the phone, but by saying that he’s away, it makes me think maybe he is there, but just pretending to be away. In this day of caller ID, would he really not answer if he knew it was me?! It’s surprising, I know, but some people have stopped answering the phone when I call!)
“I have a full day of meetings of meetings today, at 7:30, 8, 8:30, 9, 9:20, 10, 11, 11:45, 1, 2, 2:15, 2:30, 2:47, 3 and 4.”
(Oh, for crying out loud, you’ve got to be kidding me! Get on with it!)
“Your call is very important to me.”
(Uh huh. If it’s so important, why are you “away from your desk” right now, Bob?)
“Please leave a message with information about why you called, what time you called, and how I can reach you.”
(Wait, slow down! That’s a lot of information to digest. Let me write that on a Post-It so I will have that handy message-leaving guide next to my phone if I ever have to leave a phone message for anyone else. That way I won’t have to call Bob’s voicemail to remember all the steps.)
“I’ll be sure to return your call just as soon as I can.”
(Like when you’re no longer, “away,” right, Bob?)
“If your need is more urgent, please press ‘zero-star-992498-pound-accent aigu,’ and your call will be automatically routed to my cell phone.”
(Oh, right. I’m not falling for that. I’ll go to all that work, only to get your cell phone message that tells me to call your office if my need is more urgent. Why would I think you’ll be any more likely to answer your cell phone than you did your desk phone, Bob?)
“Thanks for calling, and have a great day!”
(Unlikely.)
It was helpful to learn that I could bypass someone’s voicemail message within my company by pressing “star” when I got their voicemail message. But that doesn’t always work when I call someone at another company, whose voice mail isn’t as enlightened. For those systems, pressing “star” simply enters you into some sort of voice mail circle that is impossible to escape. I pressed “star” on one company’s voice mail message and I think I re-booted their IT system.
I know I shouldn’t be so impatient. But in this rush-rush work world, it kind of feeds on itself. I get all impatient at work, because people are getting impatient with me, so I get impatient with people. Who has time to wait when someone’s waiting on you?
Of course, I generally don’t have a problem waiting when it’s on my terms; like playing computer games while I wait for creative inspiration to strike (still waiting), or waiting for the television show to be over before I go to bed. Other people may call it procrastination, but I call it “controlled waiting.” It’s my way of making myself more tolerant of waiting, so I will be more patient when the waiting is out of my control.
I can’t say it works, but it does create a nice rational package for me, so I can avoid thinking about how impatient I am. By playing solitaire, you know, I’m building up my "waiting muscles."
I started thinking about waiting when I read Isaiah 40:30-31 (NASB).
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Those verses give an amazing image of the restoration that comes to someone who waits on the Lord. It's refreshing just reading it. It gives me a reason to develop my "waiting muscles." Because as someone who can’t wait for a voice mail message to end, I also don't have a good track record waiting on the Lord. (Which is why I so often find myself out of His will.)
So I am working to develop a taste for waiting. It's one more way I have to condition myself to hold the world at bay and walk according to God's plan.
Because if I had “wings like eagles,” I could fly around until I found Bob Smith and not even have to talk to his silly voice mail.
I hate waiting for meetings to start, especially if they don’t start on time. I hate to wait in a line in the cafeteria. I hate to wait for someone’s voicemail to prattle on with information that I don’t need to know.
I called a colleague the other day, and got a message that went something like this:
“Hi, you’ve reached Bob Smith.”
(OK, let me stop right there. I obviously haven’t reached Bob Smith, unless Bob likes to talk about himself in third person, ala Bob Dole. It was kind of quaint when Bob Dole did it. Bob Smith isn’t that interesting.)
“Today is Friday, September 21. I’m in the office, but away from my desk right now.”
(Is he really away from his desk? I would presume he’s away from his desk if he didn’t answer the phone, but by saying that he’s away, it makes me think maybe he is there, but just pretending to be away. In this day of caller ID, would he really not answer if he knew it was me?! It’s surprising, I know, but some people have stopped answering the phone when I call!)
“I have a full day of meetings of meetings today, at 7:30, 8, 8:30, 9, 9:20, 10, 11, 11:45, 1, 2, 2:15, 2:30, 2:47, 3 and 4.”
(Oh, for crying out loud, you’ve got to be kidding me! Get on with it!)
“Your call is very important to me.”
(Uh huh. If it’s so important, why are you “away from your desk” right now, Bob?)
“Please leave a message with information about why you called, what time you called, and how I can reach you.”
(Wait, slow down! That’s a lot of information to digest. Let me write that on a Post-It so I will have that handy message-leaving guide next to my phone if I ever have to leave a phone message for anyone else. That way I won’t have to call Bob’s voicemail to remember all the steps.)
“I’ll be sure to return your call just as soon as I can.”
(Like when you’re no longer, “away,” right, Bob?)
“If your need is more urgent, please press ‘zero-star-992498-pound-accent aigu,’ and your call will be automatically routed to my cell phone.”
(Oh, right. I’m not falling for that. I’ll go to all that work, only to get your cell phone message that tells me to call your office if my need is more urgent. Why would I think you’ll be any more likely to answer your cell phone than you did your desk phone, Bob?)
“Thanks for calling, and have a great day!”
(Unlikely.)
It was helpful to learn that I could bypass someone’s voicemail message within my company by pressing “star” when I got their voicemail message. But that doesn’t always work when I call someone at another company, whose voice mail isn’t as enlightened. For those systems, pressing “star” simply enters you into some sort of voice mail circle that is impossible to escape. I pressed “star” on one company’s voice mail message and I think I re-booted their IT system.
I know I shouldn’t be so impatient. But in this rush-rush work world, it kind of feeds on itself. I get all impatient at work, because people are getting impatient with me, so I get impatient with people. Who has time to wait when someone’s waiting on you?
Of course, I generally don’t have a problem waiting when it’s on my terms; like playing computer games while I wait for creative inspiration to strike (still waiting), or waiting for the television show to be over before I go to bed. Other people may call it procrastination, but I call it “controlled waiting.” It’s my way of making myself more tolerant of waiting, so I will be more patient when the waiting is out of my control.
I can’t say it works, but it does create a nice rational package for me, so I can avoid thinking about how impatient I am. By playing solitaire, you know, I’m building up my "waiting muscles."
I started thinking about waiting when I read Isaiah 40:30-31 (NASB).
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Those verses give an amazing image of the restoration that comes to someone who waits on the Lord. It's refreshing just reading it. It gives me a reason to develop my "waiting muscles." Because as someone who can’t wait for a voice mail message to end, I also don't have a good track record waiting on the Lord. (Which is why I so often find myself out of His will.)
So I am working to develop a taste for waiting. It's one more way I have to condition myself to hold the world at bay and walk according to God's plan.
Because if I had “wings like eagles,” I could fly around until I found Bob Smith and not even have to talk to his silly voice mail.
posted by Tom Petersen at 6:43 PM
3 comments
