Is it normal it's hard to exercise patience when it has been tested so much?

6 Comments

I just recently got out of the military, and wow, am I glad that's over with. Almost every single day it would be the same routine: I would have 20 different people telling me to do 20 different things.

As a human being, I'm only capable of being in one place at one time doing one job, and at the end of the day it would always be the same thing: 1 person tells me I did a good job while the other 19 scold me.

On top of that it was horrendously stressful. Most of the time I had to work during breakfast and lunch, and many times I'd go through a whole day without eating at work. There we're also many times when I was forced to work afterwork and weekends too, and it would always be the same routine.

Now that I'm home, I've found that I'm alot less patient then I was before I joined the military. When I go to restaurants and no waiter/waitress has taken my order within 1 minute, I just leave. When a friend tells me to wait 10 minutes for him/her to get ready to go out, and EXACTLY 10 minutes has elapsed, I just call my friend and tell him/her to postpone going out til next time.

I just find it really difficult to be patient now, since the military has tested my patience/understanding to its limits. Is this normal?

It's normal. 14
It's normal. I'm like that too. 6
It's not normal. 7
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Comments ( 6 )
  • wigsplitz
    12 years ago

    It might also be due to the order in the military. Everything is done so quickly and in such an orderly fashion, things are set up for speed and efficiency. Compare anything you do in the military-seeing the doctor, eating, getting your ID and so on-to doing those same things in the civillian world. The military makes good use of time, time and keeping things moving in an orderly fashion is what it's all about.

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  • 1000yrVampireKing
    11 years ago

    It might be the fact the military does everything so quickly and an orderly manner. Other places and people will take forever to do anything. I was never like this I would have everything ready early or on time.

    It always pissed me off when others didn't. I use to get ready in the morning and would have to go to the bus stop. My idiot sibling wanted to wait 15 minutes if we were done early since he said "Oh its not for 15 more minutes".

    We usually missed the bus because of this especially since our bus driver started coming 10 minutes early and leaving before the registered time. Sometimes my sibling was doing nothing at all just sitting like an idiot looking into blank space or sleeping like a fucking idiot.

    Which drove me mad! I know how you feel slow people drive me crazy as well. I also use to help my teachers in school and they were surprised when I did all the extra assignments they gave me too quickly. So I am not slow either.

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  • mateo
    12 years ago

    some of the many ways buddah and the other higher powers test your patience......to see what rewards you might deserve

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  • Angel_in_a_Glass_Dress
    12 years ago

    Not normal. I personally had 13 years in myself. I do get impatient at times but... I just try to distract myself with something else when that happens.

    Perhaps you should consider retraining yourself to be patient. Especially if you plan to dine out with others... This really does have the potential to ruin a night out, especially if you're with someone who was really looking forward to a nice night out... only to get dragged out of the restaurant because you have a hissy fit.

    If retraining yourself doesn't work, you may want to consider counseling - including PTSD therapy if that's an issue as well.

    And as others have pointed out, you have long waits in the military too. Evening chow was always interesting. Show up and wait an hour in line - or hit the salad bar if you don't have time. Work while you eat.

    Now as a civilian, my 30 minute lunch break sometimes feels pretty long - although that's rather a bonus ... unless I'm bored. (But the system at work won't let me clock back in early either).

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  • InsertBlankHere
    12 years ago

    I spent five years in the military. Nothing is sped up or orderly. "Hurry up and wait" was a common phrase passed around. I'd say I spent 1/3rd of my time sleeping, 1/3rd of my time working/goofing off, and 1/3rd of my time waiting in lines to get served food by incompetent cooks, waiting in lines to throw out garbage, waiting in lines to see the incompetent nurses... etc... The military is far from efficient.
    I actually left the Navy feeling more patient than when I had entered.

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    • wigsplitz
      12 years ago

      Well yeah, hurry up and wait, I know, but that's just because they're trying to get a couple hundred poeple through a process TODAY. Try taking 200 people to the DMV to get ID's in one day or 200 people set up with boots, uniforms, coats and so on in one day at the mall. Not gonna happen. If McDonalds has more than 5 people in line in front of you, there goes your whole lunch hour. Try making a doctor or dentist appointment, you're going to wait possibly months for it, and when the day finally comes, you'll wait an hour for your turn. Not so in the military.

      If you missed even a few hours of basic training or AIT to go to sick call, it's like missing a week or 2 of civillian schooling, you're just lost!

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