Pages 38 through 74 Summary and Analysis

Waiting

Waiting sparks anxiety—be it waiting for a loved one to return or waiting for a phone call. The anxiety is all the same. Waiting at a cafe, looking at one's watch several times. Was the meeting time or place miscommunicated? When is panic allowed to surface? One must wait—the other may still come. The uncertainty graduates to anger. How inconsiderate is X. X should have called. Soon this pique can escalate to certitude that the relationship is dead. Waiting for a telephone disallows one to take another call, go to the toilet or leave for an errand. Inertia sets in until the phone call comes. The time of the wait makes no matter—it is infinite. This delirium does not end with the end of the relationship. One still hallucinates that X may...