A Thoughtful Afternoon Wait

I think being on Annual Leave is one of the biggest blessings in life. Here is one of those "You Know..." phrases that I came up with,

You know you are on annual leave when you spend an hour at Dunkin Donuts shop waiting for somebody and doing nothing else. Just waiting and nothing else.

I actually did the above and the worst thing was I didn't even order something. That was kinda rude and at a loss for the business as well cos I was occupying a table and 2 chairs at the lunch time rush hour.

This friend of mine who I hadn't met for quite some time had promised we meet over coffee and since being on leave was something only I had, he had the pleasure of getting stuck with his boss for little longer leaving me to suffer.

I wrote "suffer" but while coming up with this post, I realized that if I were in any other situation than being on annual leave, I would have been frustrated, angry and pretty pissed off. The fact that I was on annual leave and pretty much free, I didn't "suffer" at all. I actually enjoyed the extra hour of peace and freedom.

I was sitting at a nice angle, watching the traffic go by. Watching how the Karachi culture has changed so much and where it was now very much acceptable to step outside during lunch hour to have lunch or coffee with somebody from the opposite gender. In our times (not too much in the past), that was an act of much bravery and courage and seen with an eye of judgment by the bystanders.

Anyway, there was a gang of about 15 ladies on the table close to me, all of them obviously housewives guessing by the topics being discussed. Domestic issues and who should get married to whom and the update on latest episodes, from the day before on all the soaps aired on all possible channels.

Then there was stud gang of 5 guys looking like they worked for a bank. Young bankers are quite evident by the way they dress. I think the pants they wear should be called banker pants or something cos they are so unique. Butts sticking out and the rest of the pants sticking tight on the legs. Then those traditional long pointy shoes 99% chance of it being black.

I noticed a group of young college/university guys coming in and snickering at this poor guy (ME) waiting for somebody. Obviously, their level of thought could only take them to think that I was waiting for someone special. I felt like Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail when she waited for NY152 to come meet her as ShopGirl. I was missing the book and the rose but that doesn't matter. How could I tell those youngsters that the person awaited is not even close to what I would call a dream date. No offense mate.

The funny thing was that after 15-20 minutes I saw those teenagers again sneaking around to see, whether the most awaited person of my life had arrived or not. Is she worth waiting for? Is she a celebrity? All this while I was thinking, I wish I were that lucky.

Anyway, to satisfy the Shop Guy who was now giving me the looks, I ordered a coffee as my friend was taking much longer.

I would say doing nothing is quite a blessing if you are able to do it and get away with it. I think I did exactly that on that afternoon. It was a moment of realization as to how busy we have made ourselves. How overly occupied we have become with our lives that spending an hour doing nothing is a moment to celebrate or as the reader would have noticed, come up with a whole blog-post.

My friend arrived and apologized as much as he could and in fact bought me lunch as well. I didn't mind the treat but the truth that he didn't realize was how this was something I was thankful to him. Rather than an apology from him, I should have been the one to get him something for making me realize the value of freedom and how we don't have it anymore. How we have become slaves to our very own lives in pursuit of our dreams, a good life for our family, responsibilities and what not.

Are we really free as we claim to be? That is definitely something to ponder upon.