The Waiting Game

Everyone has to wait on things; it's a part of life.

Some of us have been graced with more patience than others, but waiting is still going to happen, whether we are tactful and twiddle our thumbs or we pace vigorously back and forth until we make ourselves dizzy.

No one has gone without saying "I am waiting for...(this)" or "I am waiting on...(that)." Here in the American world, we use these terms interchangeably, and there is nothing wrong with that.  However, today I propose a difference, at least in my restless mind.

Waiting for something implies that we are in anticipation for something to happen.  In my thinking, "waiting for" could imply something that is out of our control.  We wait for the professor to post our final grade, we wait to see if we got the cute little house on the corner, we wait for our food to cook.  These are things that are out of our control, or at least might be ruined if we sped them along.  "Waiting for" can be painstaking and nerve-wracking, but it yields a result sooner or later.

"Waiting on" is actually defined as an act of serving, like waiting on someone hand and foot.  This kind of goes along with how I see it. When you are "waiting on, " you have done something and are awaiting a reaction.  "Waiting on" is a little more depressing to me. We wait on someone to message back, we wait on someone to love us back, we wait on someone or something to leave so we can avoid a situation.  Sure, I could use one term for everything, but I feel as though "waiting on" is more personal. It's more emotional.

So whether you are waiting for something or waiting on someone....why wait?