Waiting in queues. Waiting in supermarkets. Waiting in garages. Waiting at the doctors. The list could just go on and on, so I won’t bore you with any more detail. Let’s get to the point – How much of our life do we waste waiting? We spend an amazing amount of time sleeping, a third of our lives, but has anyone documented how much time we spend waiting? It’s not so much the waiting that gets to me, it’s the attitude of certain people who behave as if they own the right to make me wait longer. I’m a patient kind of girl but sometimes it gets to you. You’re waiting in line and the person in front of you decides to empty out their handbag spilling a year’s worth of money off coupons at the checkout. They haven’t bothered to see if they’re valid or not, so the checkout girl has to check each and every coupon. By the time they’ve left, the check out girl and I are in cahoots, talking about their inconsiderate behaviour. Wouldn’t you?
We spend five and a half years doing the housework. (This one really upsets me! I take advice from the fellow below on that one!
Three years doing our washing. Eleven years in front of the tv. Five years on the Net. Seven years suffering from insomnia. 20 weeks on hold. 38,003hrs eating. Six months of our life queuing. Eleven and a half years at work. A year off sick (no wonder!) 160 days on fag breaks. Five months complaining! It’s amazing we have any time left over to relax or enjoy ourselves.
That leads me to the next statistics, which are a bit risqué, so forgive me, here goes, women spend 1 hour and 24 minutes having orgasms (the female orgasm lasts 1.7 seconds) and men a whopping 9 hours 18 secs. (the male orgasm lasts 12.4 seconds.) Sounds like a bit of a disparity there! Let’s hope some of these ladies weren’t faking it! Women take 136 days getting ready for a night out whereas men only devote 46 days to this. Oh and we spend 115 days laughing too!
The statistics are courtesy of the Daily Mirror so if they’re wrong don’t blame me!
Anyway, getting back to me and waiting. It doesn’t just happen to me at the checkout, no it happens in the garage too!
The other day I was waiting in line to check my tyre pressures, I was in a bit of a hurry, and I could see the guy in front was in go slow mode. He just kept staring at his tyres as if he expected the pump to work without any input on his behalf. Then he walked around his car inspecting it. He then took off every dust cap, and walked leisurely over to the machine.
By this time I was beginning to think a child could have done a quicker job.
He popped in his money and … he walked so slowly I was sure that he would never get all the tyres done in the time allotted, miraculously he just managed it and no more. I figured he’d cast a spell on the machine. He finished. I sighed. Great, at long last it was my turn now. No way. He opened his bonnet and started to fiddle with his engine. I knew then it was hopeless, so I turned on my engine, and pulled out. He gave me a look as I left, a sort of aren’t you in a hurry kind of look, or aren’t you impatient, or was it a look of triumph? Either way I left, I gave in. Why am I such a softie? No wonder my tyres need inflating!
When I pump up my tyres I always try to be quick if I happen to see someone waiting. What about you? Do you rush or do you stall? If you take your time, why’s that? Are there other more unusual places you’ve been kept waiting? Tell me all about it in the comment box below.
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