“Wait time…”
Shared by Breanne Smedley
When waiting in the grocery line, at the doctor's office, or even at a red light, I’ve noticed there are two types of people.
People that are on their phones when they wait, and those that aren’t.
You’ve seen it.
A waiting area in a doctor’s office. People with their heads down, buried in their phones.
In the grocery line. The minute the last item hits the belt, the phone comes out.
Then there are the people that don’t do this. When they wait, their phone stays tucked away, out of sight.
What do they do instead? Where do they look? What do they do with their hands?!
The other day, I was at the grocery store and faced the same, daily choice.
All my items were on the belt, and I was behind a family that seemed to be taking a long time to check out.
I felt the nudge.
“I wonder if I have any new emails…”
“Any breaking news I should know about…?”
“Wonder what’s going on in the Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter world…”
I wanted to fill this wait time. I couldn’t stand to just be there, doing…nothing.
I resisted the urge.
I paid more attention to the family in front of me.
There was a teenage boy, a little girl, and a man that appeared to be their grandfather.
The little girl was jumping up and down, pleading to her grandpa, “Please papa, please, please! Can I get some tic-tacs?”
The man looked hesitant to his granddaughters' request. He hemmed and hawed and replied, “Ohh, I don’t know about that. Your grandma said no candy!”
“It’s not candy, papa! Pleaasse!” The little girl responded, still jumping up and down.
At this point, I was smiling and had made eye contact with the man.
“If it’s not candy, then what is it?” The man replied.
“Ummmm, I don’t know! I just like them!” She responded.
Then the man looked at me and reasoned,
“How about this. If this lady behind us says it’s not candy, then we can get them!”
Oh no, I thought! It’s on me?!
“Oh boy!” I responded. “You asked the wrong person! I’m a HEALTH teacher!”
At this point, the teenage boy, grandpa, and the cashier started laughing at the irony.
“Oh, how unlucky for you!” The grandpa said to his granddaughter
“Because there’s no way she’s going to say that tic-tacs are healthy!” The boy chimed in.
I told her that, yes unfortunately there’s sugar and some other unhealthy stuff in tic-tacs, so they’re probably close to candy.
“Awww man!” She said, while the grandpa laughed and mouthed a “thank you” to me.
The teenager then asked me where I taught, because he attended a high school nearby and was taking health this semester.
We exchanged some more conversation before they took off.
When they did, I noticed that I was smiling. So was the cashier.
I can’t help but wonder. Would this interaction have taken place if I was on my phone while waiting like I often have been before?
If I wasn’t aware of my surroundings and open to the possibility of connecting with others, would I even have noticed the people in front of me in line?
Using wait time to observe and be aware, rather than be consumed by media, messages, and entertainment can open up a world of possibility.
Connection with others, connection with our surroundings, and our world.
There are just some things that are better accomplished by people who choose to use their wait time with their heads up, rather than on a phone.
#InspirationallyImpactful
#IntegrallyRelational
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