Patience

…I don’t have much. But, I had an eye-opening experience on Thursday when I was headed to my CDD practicum. I was planning to take the 9:48 train to the next stop over, which is where my practicum site is. I was scheduled to be there at 10. I even got to the station a little early (rare).

At 9:48 the train didn’t come.

At 9:50 the train didn’t come.

Then, I started to get frustrated, and looked at the screen of train arrival and departure times. Of course the train was running late, and its time of departure was 9:54. Great, now I’m going to have to run to the Kindergarten! At 9:51, the ETD of the train changed to 9:54; at 9:52 the ETD of the train changed to 9:55. Damn it.  Clearly the train was stopped somewhere, and the time kept being pushed back a minute. Every time a minute passed, I became visibly more annoyed. I started pacing and glaring at the screen, as if that would help. (If Tyler is reading this, it was the same glare that I typically give you.) No one else was showing any signs of frustration! The Danes, young and old alike, were calm and collected. They all displayed a passive attitude.

I thought to myself, maybe they know something I don’t.

At 10:11 I was so wrapped up in my frustration, I almost didn’t notice when everyone started sprinting to the other side of the tracks. I followed the herd up the stairs, over the bridge, and the “Spor 2”, where the train was apparently coming in. When I got there, everyone was getting off the train, and all the Danes were of course, speaking Danish, and laughing because the train was from what I could guess, out of order. To me, this was not funny.

We ran back to the other side, and began waiting for the next train. It finally came at 10:18, thirty minutes later than I should have left. Then I realized what the Danes all knew: When the train is late, there is nothing you can do about it. It’s the same idea for when I’m in an airplane and worried because I have no control. In those situations it’s best to be calm because no amount of anger is going to make the train come any faster. I was 25 minutes late for my practicum, but no one minded. They were all used to the inconsistent and sometimes unreliable public transportation, and it didn’t phase them. 

Hopefully by the end of this four-month period, I can absorb some of this back seat Danish attitude, accept that as my mom says, “shit happens”, and in some situations, realize that I have no control over the outcome. Sigh.

Here is a picture that Alex took of the Rungsted Kyst train station: