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"We're sorry for your wait. Your call is important to us. Not important enough for us to hire enough people to answer the phone, but please hold on for the next available call center employee in Bangalore. In the meantime, did you know that you can find answers to many of your questions by going to our website at www.adnauseum.com? OK, we know you probably already tried that which is why you called our toll-free number. But we have to say something while you are waiting. The music is kind of nice, isn't it? We got it from a stock music site. Anyway, we're sorry for your wait. Your call is..."

Many years ago, I made my peace with the fact that a good portion of the rest of my life would be spent waiting on hold, at the DMV, in the drive-through lane, at the doctor's office, in a queue for tickets to the Monkees reunion concert, for web pages to download, for an organ donor, and so on.

I am not rich, so I can't pay someone else to wait in lines for me. And, I am not important - or tough - enough to cut in line ahead of other people. Chances are, you aren't, either. (Otherwise you wouldn't be reading this.)

So, if you are going to have to wait in any case, why fight it? Why get yourself all worked up about it? You can't avoid waiting, so your best strategy is to embrace it as a gift.

Waiting can be your opportunity to reflect on the big picture, to daydream, to speculate on what the people waiting in line in front of you might look like naked. (I don't recommend this at the DMV, however. You might want to bring a book.)
Waiting is also a very effective strategy in fishing and buying big ticket items. (In which case, you are the fish.)

Want a new car? Wait until just before the New Year. There will still be a number of last year's models available, and the dealers will become what real estate agents call "motivated sellers." You may not get exactly the car you want, but you'll soon get used to that snazzy lemon yellow finish.

This same strategy is very effective for buying big ticket business software such as ERP, CAD/CAM, PLM, etc. (If these acronyms are unfamiliar to you, don't worry. All you need to know is that they cost mucho dollars.)

In most cases, big ticket business software (BTBS) systems are commodities - "me, too" products with little or no significant differences in functionality. ABC might boast of its ability to tickle your fancy while guarding your bottom line, but chances are that XYZ can not only do that, but also guard your fancy while tickling your

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