Tie a Yellow Ribbon

We're spoiled, most of us. In a world of instant gratification and microwave meals, the idea of waiting for anything (outside of a ride at Disney or an i-fill in-the-blank product) seems absurd.

We want it all and we want it now, including people. In this poll from the Business Insider, the largest percentage of single people think having sex on the 2-5 date is appropriate. Assuming you see this person, once a week we're advocating waiting a whopping month and some odd change to begin a very intimate relationship with them.

But seeing as how this is not a morality blog, I'll get to the point. We don't understand the concept of waiting (as a larger population, not including military families who understand this all too well). I don't mean first date waiting or waiting until marriage. I mean waiting for someone to return, putting your faith in your emotions that you will both still want to be together at the end of your separation.

The other day, I was jamming to the oldies (if you can "jam" to Tony Orlando). Okay truth be told, I was cleaning my house. Jamming. Cleaning. They're all gerunds. What's the difference? The lyrics from Tie a Yellow Ribbon struck me.

"It's been three long years do you still want me?"

While the song was originally written about an ex-con, it's come to symbolize a returning hero and/or the desire for that individual to return. Three...long...years. I have nothing to compare this to. I used to get upset when my husband was 30 minutes late and I had to bathe the kids by myself.

Years ago, women knew about wait. They waited for men to return from wars that took years and not in the way ours do now with occasional leaves or time between deployment. These men left and before postal service you had only the occasional visitor from the front who would bring news of your loved ones. By that time the news of his safety could be months old and no longer true. These women, these communities knew about waiting. Waiting that was not spurned on by contact or messages from their loved ones. They waited without hope from their men and without news programs to tell them what was going on.

The women waited with their sisters for their men to return from war, or making their fortunes, or setting up a new life for them in a new country. There were no texts, emails or skype to pass the time and remind them of their love. The women had only one another to lean on. They shared their concerns with one another and helped with the upkeep of each other's homes. They were a community of sisters.

Today we can't go through a meal without texting one another and the idea of not talking for a week to our man is inconceivable to most of us. But is it love or dependency that requires us to be in constant communication?

Would we be able to wait alone with only our thoughts and our female friends to turn to?

What do you think?