I was stopped at a traffic light and I noticed a young mother with two small children, sitting at a bus stop. The kids were sitting cross legged on either side of her and she was reading them a story.
I couldn’t help thinking what a good mom she was and how calm that scene was compared to waiting for the bus with a baby crying in the stroller and an active toddler running around the bus stop close to a busy street.
It had just taken a bit of planning and being prepared to wait. We don’t like to wait.
We want instant gratification, we want instant oatmeal, we don’t want cars in front of us at the drive thru or lineups at the gas pumps. We get frustrated when the flag girl lets 30 cars go ahead of us and then steps in front of our car with the stop sign.
It’s all attitude.
Sitting and waiting in a doctor’s office is not the same as sitting and waiting in a boat on a lake.
I remember learning the art of waiting during visits to Expo 86. I’m sure many of you recall the long lineups to get into the Canada Place, the Ontario exhibit or the Chinese Pavilion. We had to wait to get in because if we didn’t, people would tell us how much we missed.
I recall one hot July visit six of us were standing in line for almost an hour to see a flock of geese on a huge screen. My little boy with eagle eyes spotted a soft ice cream stand across the lot and they decided I should go get ice cream cones to make our wait more enjoyable.
While I was getting the ice cream, the line moved and all my family went inside.
No one suggested waiting for me. There is no honour in a one-hour lineup.
I walked back with six cones that were starting to melt and gave two to a couple from Holland, two to a couple from Ireland and two to a couple from Newfoundland.
I think they all thanked me profusely but the couple from Newfoundland were really the only ones I couldn’t understand.
I could have got angry at my family but I charmed the little girl at the door with the ice cream story and she let me in.
I remember working with a traffic analyst at a double fatality, head-on accident. He explained that at the speeds the vehicles were travelling, one second difference and they would have missed each other.
One second is one more sip of coffee, just a little slower through the school zone, or smiling at the flag girl.
Many philosophies will tell you that patience is a virtue and the secret to life is accepting that at any given time, we are where the universe wants us to be. Be patient, everything is coming together.
At least that’s what McGregor says.