Trying my patience

I’m normally a pretty cheerful and patient person (being a mother I find I have to be). I look on the bright side of life most days, and try to find the positive in every situation (it’s not always easy, but I give it the good old College-try) You’d think with Christmas around the corner I’d have a more joyful topic to write, but time and time again it seems that my patience is tried…

Line-ups – My #1 Pet Peeve - if there are more than 10 people in line I will walk away and put my potential purchases back. I will definitely NOT suffer for coffee. No matter what kind of coffee it is. Life is too short to wait in line. The only caveat to this is when I am at the grocery store and have a full cart. I will grit my teeth as the line crawls to the checkout. This is when I catch up on the latest celebrity gossip. (Must make sure I put the magazine back before proceeding through the checkout.) Christmas shopping and crowded line-ups in stores drive me batty.

Driving in Traffic – I am very fortunate that I am able to walk to work most days. On those days that I am forced to bring my car I feel my blood pressure begin to rise when traffic starts to back-up. I don’t like the feeling of being trapped between a line of cars and a curb. I’m not claustrophobic or agoraphobic – I just don’t like not moving…If I could abandon my car and get out and walk, there are many days I dream I could do just that. To get me through traffic I lose myself in the radio. I channel surf until I find something that interests me and if it’s a great song then I will sing along, if it’s a talk show then I will absorb myself in the topic.

Impatient motorists/bus drivers – If you can’t get through the intersection on the green then don’t try to sneak through on the yellow and then end up blocking both traffic and pedestrians trying to cross the other way. (On more than one occasion I have had to snake my way between cars to cross a street all the while wondering if the motorist even sees me.) No one can be in that much of a rush, can they? I make eye contact ALL the time to make sure they know I am there. There are also times when I just have to wait for another light cycle and hope for the best. Case in point: yesterday I was walking home and had approached a crossing with the pedestrian walk signal still lit up. I was one lane across the street when the signal changed to the “hand”. A bus turning right on the red started into the intersection and came within a couple feet of me. I stopped walking to make sure the driver saw me. He made eye contact with me, and then to my surprise continued turning. If I had remained where I was standing he would have hit me. I had to back up to the sidewalk to avoid being killed. It was as if he didn’t care.

Oblivious Pedestrians - People who walk two-three-four abreast on the sidewalk (and even worse, those who walk in the center) unaware of people behind them who are walking faster and would like to get by and then grudgingly move when you ask politely if you can get by, as if you are invading their sidewalk. Ditto for dog walkers who walk their dogs a long leash that spans the sidewalk and you have to either go around the dog or hop the leash. All I can do is say, “On your left” and hope for the best. Sometimes people move and sometimes they don’t.

Loud chewers - Please close your mouth when you are chewing. There is really no polite way to tell someone they eat loud without hurting their feelings. (If anyone has suggestions for this I would love to hear them)

Telemarketers – nuff said! (I know they have a job to do and I don’t fault them for that but I don’t have to like it and I don’t have to listen to them)

Malls in December - As I get older I get more and more irritated with crowds in malls. So…I refuse to step into a shopping mall after December 1st. If I have any Christmas shopping to do I will do it early in the season, or online or in stand-alone specialty shops. (*sigh…I failed with this this year…I had to step inside last weekend, but I went early and left before noon – it was the best I could do).

I am very good at calming myself down and deep breathing to get myself through these patience testers. Avoidance works best, but is not always the most practical. A gin&tonic or a glass of wine at the end of the day is also a lovely remedy.