I always see stats about how many hours of one's life are spent sleeping, eating, walking, etc. But how much is spent waiting? If you're an academic (or a prospective academic), I'd wager that about 30% of your life is spent waiting. For instance, I recieved an email reply 6 weeks after I'd sent the original question, and organizing any sort of committee takes a minimum of a month, even if everyone is available, ready and willing. I'm fortunately in that my supervisor is always on the ball -- the longest I've ever had to wait for any reply is a weekend -- but it just makes everyone else seem slow and/or totally clueless.

Right now I really have nothing personal I'm waiting for, but the hubster is still waiting to hear from his PhD-uni-of-choice, and noone at said uni seems to think this is a big deal. The secretary and grad chair readily admit to not having results yet, and while I understand that everyone is busy at this time of year (although I'd be hard-pressed to name a time of year, besides June and July, when academics aren't busy), it's the middle of fucking APRIL! Even PhD-uni-of-second-choice hasn't sent out an official letter. The hubster only knows that he didn't get in because he emailed the grad secretary for an update.

Patience is apparently a virtue, but what's so great about it anyway? I'm sure in the grand scheme of things, patience is right up there with not throwing your toenail clippings at other people. I never claimed to be a virtuous person anyway.

0 Comments:

Add a comment