The 5 Stages of Waiting... for the Colectivo

These 5 stages are a very real part of my everyday life here in Argentina, so I thought I would share them with you all. They represent my own theorizing and do not come from any professional study and/or outside source. Ironically enough, thinking of these 5 stages helped me to occupy my time while waiting for the bus one day... They are as follows:

Stage 1:
Optimism- the subject has a fresh hope that the bus will come quickly today (despite past experience) and waits patiently by the designated stop.

Stage 2:
Anxiousness- the subject begins to lose faith that the bus will come faster today than any other day, but continues to hold out hope that it will come in good time. Subject may begin to pace the curb and try to distract his or herself by thinking about other pressing matters, admiring the scenery or counting the number of compact cars that pass by.

Stage 3:
Disillusionment- the subject is now in the beginning stages of frustration. All pacing has stopped and (s)he is now staring determinedly at the horizon where the bus is bound to appear, mentally willingly it to come quicker. At this point the subject may be disillusioned into thinking any passing taxi or car of similar color or size is in fact the coming colectivo and may be prone to premature excitement at the sound of a passing truck, having hopes that it may be the sound of the bus roaring down the street.

Stage 4:
Rage- the subject is now fully enraged, having waited approximately 30-45 mins for the (insert expletives here) colectivo. The subject begins to curse the bus system and its fully incompetent and ineffective leaders. NOTE: depending on the individual, the subject may choose to leave the stop at this point, returning home on foot or taking a taxi.

Stage 5:
Acceptance- the subject has moved into a state of resignation, finally choosing to take out and listen to his/her ipod or other music playing device and realizing all too late that (s)he should have done this over 45 mins ago. The subject has now come to accept his/her fate as a patron the public transportation system.  NOTE: in some cases this stage may never be reached; however, if achieved, the subject may be able to pass the previous stages in similar, future situations.

In my own personal diagnosis, I believe myself to have reached (and mostly successfully obtained) the final stage of Waiting. I hope this list will help any and all future subjects of the public transportation system to understand their emotions and thus reach (and possibly even maintain) the final stage of Acceptance on a daily basis.

And one final thought: We may suffer individually on our own personal curbs, but let us remember that we are never truly alone in our frustrations with the public bus system. Thank you, and may you all have a wait-free day.