Should we all learn to wait better? A sailor survived 24 days in the Caribbean Sea eating ketchup and patiently waiting to be saved. Some think we could all learn from his example.
How ketchup kept this man alive for a month
Should we all learn to wait better? A sailor survived 24 days in the Caribbean Sea eating ketchup and patiently waiting to be saved. Some think we could all learn from his example.
<h2 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="crosshead">At last</h2>
Elvis Francois was repairing his sailboat off the coast of DominicaAn island country in the Caribbean. last December when a strong current swept him out into the Caribbean Sea.
His phone quickly lost signal. He failed to start a fire. Out of options, Francois scrawled "help" on his boat's hull. Then he sat it out: "There was nothing else to do but sit and wait".
To survive, Francois ate stock cubes, garlic powder and three daily doses of Heinz tomato ketchup.1 Eventually, after 24 days, he used a mirror to alert a passing plane. Soon after he was picked up and rescued.
But his story did not end there. Francois was left boat-less. Heinz launched a social media campaign, #FindtheKetchupBoatGuy.2. This week, Francois was located and given a new vessel. A good thing came to a man who waited.
Yet waiting is often seen as a waste of time. Sitting in a bus at a red light or standing in a queue at a shop can be frustrating. We often try to fill the time, listening to music, sending WhatsApp messages and browsing social media. Waiting time is wasted time.
Many believe that this is a bad approach. Some psychologists think that periods of waiting can make us relax and help our priorities become clear.
Waiting can help us to become patient, to accept waiting. For Christians, patience is a virtueA good moral quality. . The Biblical Book of Job celebrates a man who remained patient and devout through extreme suffering.3
Others believe that sitting still is often foolish. The world keeps moving whatever we do. By waiting too long we can miss opportunities. Other people can take advantage of our inaction.
In 23 BCE, the Roman poet Horace wrote carpe diem. This is often translated as "seize the day". It means that we should act as soon as we have the chance. Horace's thought has echoed down through centuries.
Yes: Impatient people are dreadful. They selfishly think the world rotates around them. They allow no space to learn and think. This makes them very dull. Waiting, by contrast, lets us open our minds.
No: We should learn to wait less. Waiting is a waste of our most precious resource, time. Our lives are always changing. Nothing lasts forever. Chances come and go. We must seize the day while we can.
Or... We have to wait whether we like it or not. Waiting is the centre of life. Every moment is a wait for the next one. Just as it is our choice how we live our lives, it is our choice how we wait.
Dominica - An island country in the Caribbean.
Virtue - A good moral quality.
<h5 class=" eplus-wrapper" id="question"><strong>Should we all learn to be better at waiting? </strong></h5>
How ketchup kept this man alive for a month

Glossary
Dominica - An island country in the Caribbean.
Virtue - A good moral quality.