Waiting

It was already 10pm and still raining hard the other night. Before I got off from the FX coming from work, I thought of taking the pedicab to avoid the mud sticking on my shoes and my pants from getting dirty especially that there's a road construction going on in our subdivision. However there were no pedicabs that time and there was one person in line. Therefore, I decided to go to a drugstore first to buy something, hoping that afterwards,  there would be an available ride and no more person in line. Unfortunately, when I went back to the waiting area, the person is still there waiting and there was no pedicab in sight. So I waited for a bit...but standing there for just 3 minutes, already felt like waiting for ages. I asked myself, "how long should I wait?" Two minutes...okay, I'm done waiting! So I started walking.

As I held my umbrella on my right hand, and cursing the ongoing construction, my left hand was also clutching my pants so that it won't get wet and dirty. Suddenly I saw a pedicab coming. Again I asked myself, "should I still take the ride?". But i told myself, "what the heck, I'm halfway there! Besides, a poor guy has been waiting in line for a long time." So I continued walking. However, as I get closer to my home, the muddier and more slippery the street has become. I couldn't save my shoes anymore. It was already full of my mud and I was starting to feel water coming in, but I couldn't do anything. When I finally reached home, I just gave out a big sigh. My shoes -- all messed up.

That night, I asked myself a couple of times if I should have waited. If I did not settle for walking, maybe my shoes would still look good. But then again, if I waited, would there still be a pedicab for me after the one that was meant for the person who was there longer than I did? Wouldn't it be too late already if I still waited?

Sometimes it pays off to just wait. Sometimes it's risky to just settle for what we think is better than nothing. Clock is ticking, I know. But the next time it rains, maybe it's safer to wait.

(Written  May 9, 2009 - from my Friendster blog.)