Waiting Alone(?)

Waiting sucks. I get restless. I feel like I'm my wasting time. The only time waiting doesn't suck is at the airport, when the excitement of an upcoming trip is enough to keep my thoughts busy. But I'm not going to the airport today. 

Today, I'm going to the DMV. 

I brought this 750-page book with me to read just in case when I get bored. 

While standing in line at the DMV (can't read a book while standing, especially not this behemoth), it happened. The itch. What's happening on instagram? Did someone text me? 

Nope. Don't do it. Don't touch your phone. Be present. Experience the DMV. 

I looked around. I nodded politely at the police officer when I met his gaze. 

A group of baggy-shirted teenage boys sat in a row, their faces buried in copies of a driver's manual. 

A little girl was skipping to the water fountain.

I heard my name. It was my friend, Nicole, here to get her motorcycle license. We spoke across the line, and soon everybody around us warmed up and started talking to each other. The man standing directly behind me, an elderly man in a sunhat, asked me if I'm getting a motorcycle license too. I laughed, telling him that driving a car stressed me out, and that a motorcycle would surely be worse. He told me he used to ride a motorcycle until his wife got too nervous about it. When he was 18 he tried riding it while drunk and couldn't keep his balance. Now he drives a Buick.

"Motorcycles, you don' need no breathalyzers. Can't even ride the damn things if you been drinkin'!" 

We laughed.

Roy and I talked about our day, his brief stint as a truck driver in Nevada, my current stint as a math teacher. Before I knew it, it was my turn to walk up to the counter. 

That was fast.

One of my favorite books, The Plague, has a passage I remember vividly:

"How to contrive not to waste one's time? By being fully aware of it all the while. Ways in which this can be done: By spending one's days on an uneasy chair in a dentist's waiting room; by remaining on one's balcony all a Sunday afternoon; by travelling by the longest and least-convenient train routes, and of course standing all the way; by queueing at the box-office of theatres and then not booking a seat."

 - Albert Camus

Camus is obviously being sarcastic, but I think there's something good about waiting alone without distracting yourself with things only you care about. There's something satisfying about learning from people. How often are you actually waiting alone?

I'm glad I didn't miss out on this opportunity at the DMV. I'm glad I paid attention to the details. I'm glad I, uh, experienced it.