In today’s idiom of the day we discuss the meaning and when to use the expression “I’m on a holding pattern.” It came up during a lesson I had with a private student of mine. We began the lesson with some typical small talk; however the subject of the small talk was anything but small.
She described her present situation to me, and I immediately thought of the idiom that she was on a holding pattern. Taken from the Oxford Dictionary online:
She is an aspiring florist with a plant-in-a-jar arrangement business that she is building from scratch. She had registered to participate in a rather large floral trade fair that had originally been scheduled for this weekend, March 15th, 2020. It is a major opportunity for her to get exposure for her business, especially as Easter holiday is coming up.
She had also paid a registration fee to sign up for participation. This situation had left her with a dilemma. As most of the world is now on full alert from the Corona Virus, many mass gathering events have been cancelled and people are rethinking whether to expose themselves to the risks of social gatherings, going out to pubs, concerts, and major sporting events.
So the dilemma is three-fold. Firstly, there is the health risk to her and her family. Secondly, there is the potential financial loss of her registration fee if she pulls out of the event. Thirdly, there is the huge opportunity for her to gain exposure for her startup business.
Rather than make the decision straightaway, she finds herself on a holding pattern. It is analogous to the situation where a plane or multiple airplanes find themselves circling above the nearby airport and they are waiting for permission to land. The reason for the withheld clearance could be that there is heavy traffic in and out of the airport, or weather concerns that might make landing the plane problematic. Furthermore, the airplanes cannot remain in such a waiting pattern indefinitely. They have traveled a long way and have a limited reserve of fuel, not to mention an increasingly restless cabin full of passengers.
Eventually, the captain of the aircraft might have to make the call to try and land at another airport, upsetting all on board his aircraft. As with my student, it is not an easy decision to have to make to pull out of the original plan. She was hoping not to have to make that decision and allow the event organizers to cancel or reschedule the event on their own- saving her from having to withdraw. So she was on a holding pattern.
As of today’s writing of the story, it appears that the event has been rescheduled to April, which is the sensible solution given the current state of affairs. So I will end with another saying we have in English:
All is well that ends well.
Special shout out to Flowerszop!
