Worth the Wait

During our recent weekend away, we hit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We do this every time we're in town, which is many times a year, so we have annual passes and have explored most parts of the facility dozens of times. As a result, we'll sometimes pop in for just a half-hour or so. Other times, our visit consists primarily of lunch in the cafe. Since we've seen most of it before, none of us feels like we're missing out on anything.

Which is why this time, I allowed myself to be talked into the face painting line. I figured that if we killed a half-hour in the line waiting for a design on her face, who cared? It wasn't going to be my only chance to see the sea otters this year. (Or her dad's. He waited for awhile, too.)

Except that it wasn't a half-hour. It was more than 90 minutes. See, the cluster of six or seven kids ahead of us in line was quite deceiving. Apparently, there are many families who thought nothing of bringing in other kids -- plus extended family members and perhaps even friends they'd made during their visit -- to rotate through the face-painting lady's chair during "their turn." I was floored by the number of adults who plopped down in the chair, mere feet from my daughter and other little kids who'd been standing and waiting patiently for ungodly amounts of time.

But in the end, it was that patience that won me over. She didn't complain once, and in fact she thanked me profusely as she finally got close to the front of the line. And her excitement about the shark that was feasting on her eyeball was just too sweet.

In the end, it was worth the wait.