For those of you who have been faithful “452 days” readers, you have noticed one recurring theme from the time I left home, throughout my training in Kansas and now that I am here in Afghanistan. The theme to which I refer is that of waiting. It is amazing to me how much time I spend waiting for something to happen. Most of the waiting is due to plans that are constantly changing. To exemplify this let me tell you about my past 24 hours as I have been preparing to go on a 2-3 day mission to a base just south of where I am now. For security purposes we will call the base “Timbucktoo”. Watch how many times the plans change.
Saturday:
4:30 PM: My phone rings. I am informed that we are leaving Timbucktoo Sunday at noon. Prior to this I had expected to leave on Tuesday.
6:30 PM: My phone rings again. I am told that the other people coming into Herat to travel down with me aren’t going to arrive until late Sunday. Consequently, we won’t leave until Monday.
8:00 PM: My phone rings...again. “LT Jones, it looks like you actually will be traveling tomorrow--be ready to leave at 5PM.”
Sunday:
6:00 AM: I wake up, busily pack and prepare for my evening departure. I then head to the office to get a few things done.
8:00 AM: My phone rings. I am told that everything looks good for us leaving this evening.
10:00 AM: A second phone call comes in. “Hey, the flight of the others coming into Herat just got canceled. They won’t be here until tomorrow.”
10:45 AM: Another call comes--are you surprised yet? I am informed that my colleagues coming from Kabul actually caught an earlier flight and that they will be here in 30 minutes. “You need to be ready to go pick them up from the airport in 10 minutes.”
10:50 AM: As I am scrambling to get my stuff together...the phone rings...again. “Actually, we are going to pick them up at the airport, bring them here for lunch, and then we will leave at 2PM”.
2:00 PM: I load my stuff on the truck at which point our convoy leader comes out and says, “We might have to put you all on a helicopter. We won’t know for 2 hours.” I return to my room and wait.
4:00 PM: I walk out to the trucks to see what is happening. “Looks like we may leave in an hour--driving not flying.” I decide just to wait there and see what happens--nothing.
5:00 PM: “Why doesn’t everyone go eat dinner.”
5:45 PM: I walk back out to the trucks. I see people taking the weapons off of them (this means we aren’t going). “We’ll probably go tomorrow.” Right, I’ll believe it when I see it.
So I spent the last 24 hours just waiting. I will probably spend the next 24 hours doing the same. Do I care? No, not really. All that really matters is that each time I see that sun setting, I know I am one day closer to coming home. So I will just keep patiently waiting until that day comes.
Saturday:
4:30 PM: My phone rings. I am informed that we are leaving Timbucktoo Sunday at noon. Prior to this I had expected to leave on Tuesday.
6:30 PM: My phone rings again. I am told that the other people coming into Herat to travel down with me aren’t going to arrive until late Sunday. Consequently, we won’t leave until Monday.
8:00 PM: My phone rings...again. “LT Jones, it looks like you actually will be traveling tomorrow--be ready to leave at 5PM.”
Sunday:
6:00 AM: I wake up, busily pack and prepare for my evening departure. I then head to the office to get a few things done.
8:00 AM: My phone rings. I am told that everything looks good for us leaving this evening.
10:00 AM: A second phone call comes in. “Hey, the flight of the others coming into Herat just got canceled. They won’t be here until tomorrow.”
10:45 AM: Another call comes--are you surprised yet? I am informed that my colleagues coming from Kabul actually caught an earlier flight and that they will be here in 30 minutes. “You need to be ready to go pick them up from the airport in 10 minutes.”
10:50 AM: As I am scrambling to get my stuff together...the phone rings...again. “Actually, we are going to pick them up at the airport, bring them here for lunch, and then we will leave at 2PM”.
2:00 PM: I load my stuff on the truck at which point our convoy leader comes out and says, “We might have to put you all on a helicopter. We won’t know for 2 hours.” I return to my room and wait.
4:00 PM: I walk out to the trucks to see what is happening. “Looks like we may leave in an hour--driving not flying.” I decide just to wait there and see what happens--nothing.
5:00 PM: “Why doesn’t everyone go eat dinner.”
5:45 PM: I walk back out to the trucks. I see people taking the weapons off of them (this means we aren’t going). “We’ll probably go tomorrow.” Right, I’ll believe it when I see it.
So I spent the last 24 hours just waiting. I will probably spend the next 24 hours doing the same. Do I care? No, not really. All that really matters is that each time I see that sun setting, I know I am one day closer to coming home. So I will just keep patiently waiting until that day comes.
1 comment:
Justin,
Patience is a virtue. Looks like you're going to get alot of practice. Waiting also provide opportunities to do good things like reading and writing. We love you.
Love,
Mom and Dad
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