Gotta Plane To Catch?

I first heard this as “Gotta a bus to catch?”, but since not as many people ride buses any more, I modernized it. So, if you are a fan of old clichés, I don’t apologize for that. Anyway, the point of this is impatience with each other. I heard a definition of patience recently that said it wasn’t how we waited, but how we acted while we were waiting. We have all waited on someone, a child, a friend, a spouse. Drumming our fingers on a table, pacing, yelling “encouragement”, and other ways of letting the other person know they were holding up the schedule are all in our repertoire. We have done it to others and have had it done to us at one point or another. On the other hand, perhaps we have waited calmly and accepted that not everyone is in as much of a hurry as we are at times.

One way that many of us show or experience impatience is in conversations with other people. That person may be a stranger or a friend or a family member. The other person is telling us something in their own unique way and they are just a bit too long-winded for us. Our attitude, body language and, sometimes, our speech, all say the same thing, “Can you just get to the point?” Why, do you have a plane to catch? What makes your time so much more valuable than theirs? Perhaps you already see where the story is going, the punchline of the joke, the answer to your question, even before the person finishes. So, we interrupt the person speaking, perhaps with a verbal jab of some kind, or we finish up the answer they are giving. So, what do we say next? How about something like, “Why do you have to be so long-winded with your answer?” Why, do you have a plane to catch? So, you can’t wait for the other person to answer your question or tell you their story their way?

I had a friend once whose wife cautioned me early on in the friendship to never ask him the time as an example of how slow he was to answer or respond. She told me that if I asked him for the time of day, he would go into great detail telling me how to build a watch, one gear at a time. I talked to him often down through the years and she was right. He would go into far greater detail telling a story or answering a question than some others would. He just knew so much about things, large and small, that he assumed everyone else would want to know what he knew. His wife, who loved him dearly, would ride him about his wordiness. I never did find out what plane she needed to catch.

Psychologists tell us there are four basic personality types. One is highly charged, always moving, never pausing long enough to breathe deeply in and out, quick and concise. For some reason, these people appear to attract the opposite, someone who is more laid back, never in a big hurry, and, wordy. The latter, when answering a question from the former, will drive the former up the creek and over the mountain with frustration while waiting for the answer. The latter, in defense, will counter with something like, “I am just trying to give you a complete answer.” And so the story goes: one wants or says something quick and concise, the other wants more detail or gives a “full” answer.

Perhaps you are one or the other of those two. Either that or you know people like them. Why on Earth would God throw two such people together in the first place? I don’t know for certain, but my best guess is He planned for one to slow the other down and the fast one to speed up the other.

Just think how ridiculous it looks or sounds when you hear someone say, “Would you please hurry up with your answer and get to the point? I don’t have all day.” Really? Why, gotta plane to catch? Just think about how rude and disrespectful that is to the other person. The message is clear: one person’s time is more valuable than the other person’s time. Don’t you think that is the wrong message? How would you feel if God told you He didn’t have time for your prayers and petitions? After all, He already knows what you are going to say or ask even before you know it. If God can grant you the time to bend His ear, can we really do less to those around us, those we love? Are we not trying to follow His lead, to be more like Him?

God created us all the same in that we are made in His image and likeness. He made us all different at the same time. If we are to follow His teachings, then we have to treat others the way we want Him to treat us. Remember, Jesus Christ told us that we should be as little children in our relationships with Him. When was the last time you listened to a child tell you something? Did you interrupt and tell the child to hurry up, that you had a plane to catch? Or, did you decide to catch the next flight? We are all children of God. Maybe we should treat each other to a little gift of time. Maybe we should stop worrying about how we answer or talk to each other and just accept and love each other as God accepts and loves us.

You really don’t have to run to catch that plane now, do you?