The Lost Experience of Waiting

The other day, my 19-year-old son's car was out of commission, so I agreed to pick him up at work.
I was running about 15 minutes late, so I notified him by text, but received no response. Something else delayed me, so I didn't get to his workplace until about 30 minutes late.
When he jumped in my car, his first words were, "Where were you?" I explained that I got delayed, but that I had texted him.
"Didn't you get my text?"
"No," he said. "My phone died."
It was at that moment that I realized he had to do something that young people don't experience today: Wait.
A generation ago, people waited for one another. I mean really waited.
There were no cell phones then. If you were waiting for someone, you had nothing to do but wait. You couldn't text the other person and ask them where they were. You couldn't bring up their location on a phone app - because there were not such apps - there were no such phones.
If you stayed after school and asked your mom to come and get you at 5:00, you'd sit outside the school and wait. Sometimes Mom was on-time. Often times, not. So, you waited, and waited. There was nothing to do but wait. No cell phone to call her and ask her where she was. No cell phone to text her. No cell phone to play games on  while you waited. No cell phones to listen to music on while you waited.
While you waited, you just....waited. You might find a rock to throw, maybe a curb to sit on. If it was raining, you'd try to find an awning or overhang to stand under, and wait.
There were options to waiting. You could start walking home, and hope that if she did come to get you, she'd come the same route you were walking so she'd she you. Plus, you'd hope that she'd actually see you.
You could also hitch a ride with a friend. The danger of that, of course, is that you'd get home, only to find out that your mom was out picking you up - and, possibly, waiting outside the school.
So, you waited.
Looking back, a lot of my life was waiting. Waiting to be picked up. Waiting for a friend. Waiting, waiting, waiting.