Bang, Bang

We spend our lives waiting for things to happen to us.

First we wait to go to school then to be done with school. We wait to work then for days off, for weekends or for vacation. We wait for movies to come out, inspiration to strike, and the meek to inherit the earth.

If we’re female, we wait in line for the Ladies’ Room.

Sometimes, something we’ve been waiting for happens. I had one of those this week. It was neither good nor bad, just over. (Knock on wood.)

“Not with a bang, but a whimper” Eliot wrote, although my world didn’t end, angels didn’t sing and confetti didn’t rain. No one played a Sousa march. Nobody danced, not even me.

Everything is pretty much exactly the same.

That’s usually what it’s like when something finally happens. It’s like nothing happened. You don’t know what all the fuss was about. That’s okay. You were probably the only one who noticed the fuss in the first place.

This is where it helps to be a grown up. I’ve had lots of practice pulling up my socks and looking around for something new to wait for.

At least I’m at home, so I don’t have to wait for the toilet.

Author’s note: I found this in an old Word™ file. I have no idea what event inspired this bit of prose. I posted it today because of the irony in that.