How Did Waiting Become Everyone’s Favorite Hobby?

No one could remember who suggested meeting early, only that everyone agreed it sounded responsible at the time, so they all arrived at the café well before the doors officially opened and stood there staring at the locked glass as if punctuality itself might turn the key. At first there was mild embarrassment, people pretending to check messages they had already read, adjusting jackets, and making polite jokes about being too efficient for their own good, but after ten minutes something shifted and the waiting became intentional. Someone began speculating about the café’s owner, inventing elaborate backstories involving dramatic life choices and a complicated relationship with clocks, while another person confidently announced that places like this always opened exactly when they felt ready, not a second earlier. A woman admitted she liked waiting outside because it gave her time to decide who she wanted to be once she went in, and this statement was met with thoughtful nods that suggested several people felt the same way but had never said it out loud. Time slowed in a comfortable, stretchy manner, and the group began sharing small observations about the street, the weather, and the subtle pleasure of having nowhere else to go. Someone wondered aloud if the café even existed in the traditional sense or if it was more of an idea that materialized only when sufficiently anticipated. When the door finally unlocked, no one rushed. They hesitated, exchanged looks, and laughed, suddenly aware that the waiting had been the best part. Inside, the coffee was good but unremarkable, the tables slightly wobbly, the music too loud, and conversation gradually drifted back to ordinary topics. A few people glanced toward the door as if expecting it to lock again and restore the earlier magic. When they eventually left, they did so slowly, lingering outside longer than necessary, reluctant to admit that the moment of shared waiting was over. Later that day several of them would think back not to the coffee but to the quiet excitement of standing together with no clear purpose, and some would arrive early to other places on purpose, hoping to accidentally recreate that feeling, even though they would never say this out loud because it sounded suspiciously like enjoying waiting for its own sake.