The Older Man

The older man hustled into the bathroom and grabbed his Speedo. As he was putting it on, his youngest daughter came to mind. She wouldn’t go to the pool with him if he wore it. A smile etched across his face as he slid his towel off the rack and headed toward the front door. Pushing the garage door opener he headed for his car. As he backed out, he hit the garage door opener again and the door began to close. He watched it for a few seconds to make sure it was closing and off he went. His destination was the aquatic center where he had his membership. When he arrived at the pool the parking lot was fairly empty. This was good as he would have no problem getting a lap lane. After checking in he went over to the lanes where the high school swim team was practicing. This was bad news as they occupied all the lanes. Walking toward three swimmers sitting under an umbrella he wondered how long he would have to wait. Where he sat was not close enough to join in the conversation but he could hear them talking. The two ladies were stating it would be a few more minutes and then they would be able to swim. The man asked them, “How long they had been there?” The one in the blue bathing suit replied, “About twenty minutes.” The man then began to complain about the wait. He had paid for the year and felt the swim team should find another facility. As the older man listened he thought how different people reacted when they had to wait. A study he read a number of years ago stated that people waited an average of two weeks in a year. It went on to name the places people waited: the Doctors office was number one followed by the bank, grocery store, registry, and anything to do with the government. What pissed off the people more than waiting was the attitude displayed by the doctors. The people felt doctors thought their time was more important. Patience is a virtue. Today, patience is in short demand. Everyone is so use to instant gratification, they have no idea what waiting means. When the older man was in the military the joke was the military motto, “Hurry up to wait”. Smiling, he remembered the time he got up at 4am to catch a bus at 10am. Sometimes the wait is worth it. If you want to do something you love then waiting is no problem. Waiting is a matter of perspective. If we view it as a reward we don’t mind. When it becomes a burden or disrupts our lives we become angry and stress ourselves out. Waiting is a part of life we have control over. How we deal with waiting is up to each individual. The calmer we remain the quicker time will go by. The more we rant and rave the seconds will crawl. The man got up out of his chair five minutes later and stormed out, while the ladies calmly waited. Ten minutes later the older man walked up to lane 3 and entered the water. Once he was sure his goggles were adjusted properly he began his first lap and was glad he waited.