{"id":73517,"date":"2014-07-03T13:11:51","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T17:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=73517"},"modified":"2014-07-03T14:59:21","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T18:59:21","slug":"in-limbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/07\/03\/in-limbo\/","title":{"rendered":"In Limbo"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

A photo from the German Federal Archive: a waiting room in April 1978.<\/p><\/div>\n

Twice this week, I was stood up. In both cases there were extenuating circumstances, attempts to communicate, and sincere apologies\u2014which I had no trouble accepting. The truth is, I didn\u2019t mind; the truth is, I love waiting.<\/p>\n

Good thing, because I\u2019m writing this from the DMV, an institution that brings us as close as we can come to Limbo, now that Limbo is no more<\/a>. I can\u2019t seem to find a pattern in the numbers being called, but I have no reason to believe mine will come anytime soon. And this is profoundly relaxing.<\/p>\n

I have a friend who has talked about \u201cthe power of being early.\u201d This is debatable\u2014if anything, it\u2019s the person who keeps another waiting who wields a certain power\u2014but it\u2019s certainly true that, once you\u2019re waiting, you have surrendered control, which, as any yoga teacher will tell you, is paradoxically empowering.<\/p>\n

I am struck by how relaxed everyone is in this DMV. The air-conditioning is on high; someone else is running things; there is a pleasant feeling of solidarity. As Milton said, \u201cThey also serve who only stand and wait.\u201d And he knew a thing or two about Limbo\u2014if not the DMV.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twice this week, I was stood up. In both cases there were extenuating circumstances, attempts to communicate, and sincere apologies\u2014which I had no trouble accepting. The truth is, I didn\u2019t mind; the truth is, I love waiting. Good thing, because I\u2019m writing this from the DMV, an institution that brings us as close as we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[14503,14501,4544,14504,14502],"class_list":["post-73517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-dmv","tag-limbo","tag-milton","tag-power","tag-waiting"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIn Limbo by Sadie Stein<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"July 3, 2014 \u2013 Twice this week, I was stood up. 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