Dr. Carolyn Lee reflects on a different cliché each week. Recently, in her blog, “To Die For,“ she refers to obsessions in our lives.  This week Carolyn explores the cliché, thank you for your patience.

Learn more about Dr. Carolyn Lee on her biography page or investigate 29 more clichés in her latest book, Keep Your Eye on the Ball And Other Clichès to Live by. 

Thank You for Your Patience

“Thank you for calling. Your call is very important to us. It may be monitored or recorded for quality purposes…

…All of our agents are currently assisting other callers. Thank you for your patience. An agent will be with you shortly.” 

     *loud, annoying music*

“Thank you for calling. Your call is very important to us. It may be monitored or recorded for quality purposes…

…All of our agents are currently assisting other callers. Thank you for your patience. An agent will be with you shortly.” 

. . . etc., etc., and so forth . . . 

Maybe I could handle this if it didn’t happen quite so frequently—if it weren’t so typical, so predictable. But in this age of automated responses, understaffed businesses, and electronic solutions, this robotic reply to a telephone call is standard stuff.   

When calling a doctor’s office, an insurance agency, any government bureau, a repair shop, a landscaping firm, an electrician, a painter, a plumber, or any member of the service industry, it is virtually impossible to speak with a human. At least not immediately. One must wait. And waiting requires patience—of which I have embarrassingly little. 

Waiting is not something most of us do very well. Maybe that’s because we’ve had to do less and less of it in this age of fast food, quick fixes and instant gratification. I admit to a certain amount of exasperation when it takes “forever” for the light to turn from red to green or I have to wait twenty seconds for a video to download. I still have to calm myself down when the air-conditioner repairman who has told me he’d be here between 12 and 2 still hasn’t shown up at 4:00.  

I remember of course, when driving across the country, I would have to pull off in a parking lot somewhere, unfold and spread out my gigantic paper map and search for my position on it before moving forward. On those long trips, if I needed to communicate with someone who was waiting to hear from me, I would have to wait until I reached the next service station where I hoped there would be a phone booth. Now my GPS and cell phone eliminate the need to wait and provide me with the things I need instantaneously. Remember when needing a new pair of shoes or selecting a gift for someone meant going to the mall and walking in and out of a lot of shops before finally making your purchase? Now? One click on the keyboard and the package appears on your front porch the next day.  

Waiting is one thing. Waiting patiently is another. Waiting patiently means being a good sport about it. How we behave while waiting is what indicates the level and quality of our patience. I am reminded of two instances in my life when I was caught in monumental, stand-still, traffic tie-ups. I mean the kind where people get out of their cars and visit along the shoulder of the road. In the first one, the driver of our car became increasingly frustrated and spent most of the hour-and-a-half hold-up complaining about our unfortunate circumstance. He found the situation nearly unbearable, and the inside of that car became a very unhappy place to be. In the second instance, our driver immediately recognized that we had no control over our dilemma, and therefore railing against it would be pointless. We had a toddler in the car with us, which actually helped, because we could turn our attention to keeping her occupied. We played games; we sang songs; we got out and ran around the car. We didn’t waste a bit of time whining about our misfortune or railing against the unkind Fates. I remember thinking, “Ah! So this is the way to do it!”  

Those events happened many years ago. I don’t even remember where we were going or who we were going to see. But I do know that having to sit there on the highway for a very long time didn’t really make a bit of difference—in the long run. 

Although I had this epiphany about patience and waiting a long time ago, there are still moments when my good sportsmanship fails me. There is something about waiting in a very long line to get into the airport ladies’ room that can negatively impact my disposition. And those “all of our agents are assisting other callers” messages still make me grit my teeth. I try on these occasions to remember this quotation from William Faulkner: “And sure enough, even waiting will end . . . if you can just wait long enough.” 

Want to Read More? 

Check out Dr. Carolyn Lee’s blogs on her website, she features a new cliché each week or you can order her new book, Keep Your Eye on the Ball And Other Clichès to Live By. Want to know more about the woman behind the words? Read more about Carolyn here. We hope you enjoyed this article learning more about the cliché, thank you for your patience.