“Patience is not simply the ability to wait – it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.” – Joyce Meyer
I'm a patient person I believe, and I value my time.
Yes, I'm not the most punctual person out there, but I surely try to be.
If we were supposed to meet at 10 AM, then 10 AM it is. Sometimes I might arrive 10 minutes earlier, sometimes 10 minutes later; which is quite acceptable in my books. For the very unforeseen cases, due to Dhaka's traffic, I might be 30 minutes late.
This is Dhaka after all, sometimes there's just no way out, no matter how early you leave.
Being late by 40 minutes to an hour, however, that's just too much in my eyes, even for Dhaka's standards.
The other day I was out for a little meeting, nothing important, nothing too lengthy either, just a little jibber jabber would've been enough. All that was required was a verbal update, and later on a bit of an overhaul of a particular blueprint and business structure.
The timing was 4 PM, and on a Saturday too, which means the roads and streets weren't as congested. As usual, I left an hour early so I could reach my destination on time. Fortunately, it took me only 40 minutes or so to reach my destination. However, my partner/friend was an hour too late to arrive.
The funny thing is that I live around 10 to 12 kilometers away from this place, and he lives less than 5 kilometers away. Yes, Dhaka always gets the blame, and Dhaka doesn't mind, but this city's inhabitants should try and be a bit more accountable.
We were supposed to meet at a restaurant in Dhanmondi. My buddy suggested this place, and I concurred. I didn't know much about the restaurants here anyway. And I can't say that the wait wasn't long. Yet, I had the company of coffee and a nice outdoor, rooftop view.
Guess what I ordered though? It's an easy guess haha.
Alas, that view wasn't available for too long, thanks to some heavy rainfall. How is it that whenever I have work or choose to head outdoors, it starts raining heavily? Sigh! It feels as if I'm always being targeted lol.
It was the perfect time to have some coffee though. Coffee after 4 PM is always welcomed from my side. From a choice of beverages before 2 PM, however, I'd rather have tea, milk tea, red tea, black tea, green tea, I don't mind. Before COVID struck, I'd always have red tea at around 11 AM, especially during office visits and meetings. The whole office would join in actually.
Sadly, things are different now. That office space now is a thing of the past, and none of the employees are there anymore. The vigorous after-effect of COVID took it all away from us.
Even though I didn't have the outdoor view anymore, even though our 3-decade-old office space was no more, inside the restaurant there was an optimistic message hanging right in front of me.
Good vibes only
And it's true, things could always be worse. There's no point in clasping onto negative vibes...
Well, at least we had coffee on the menu. And I prefer visiting coffee shops after 7 PM, when it's fairly dark, but during the evening you literally have to fight for a table. So, except for my friend being late to the meeting, everything else was A-OK I'd say, I don't mind some late afternoon coffee.
The coffee looked good too, the taste was alright, and that little optimistic message kept me cool and composed.
What else could you ask for?
And, I guess things won't always go as planned, so it's better to make peace with that idea...
