Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Something in me has been hearkening back recently to the pre-technology era. It was mentioned briefly in the tirade about the man inciting flames against an innocent mountainside. However, since the effects are around us every day (and not just in the wake of a single maniacal event) I've decided it is important enough to mention more than once. Now, far be it from me to deride the pleasures we have from running water, electricity, and ATMs; most of these I sincerely believe have been brought on by pure inspiration and intelligence from the heavens. However, it leaves us in a quandry as to the result of such progression. People in Moses' day were granted freedom from slavery and left to inherit their own land. One must admit that is quite an achievement, as well as a marked state of progression from tyranny of the past. Still, those familiar with the Bible story must be aware that this new-found freedom led only to 40 long years of petty squabbling in "the wilderness." Unfortunately, times have not changed as much as we would like to think.
What is it that I see as I look around this vast era of improvement and enlightened technology? Impatience. People apparently were not satisfied with Model T Fords that could cruise around at the astonishing rate of 30 mph-- instead they wanted bigger, faster, and better. Now you're lucky not to be run down in the fast lane by a sporty white "Beamer" doing at least 105 with the license plate that says "Big Mama" and a driver to match. And look out if you don't get out of the way fast enough-- she's likely to care more about getting where she wants to be than paying a few hundred bucks for damages. Impatience. That seems to be what has come out of our progression, our freedom from tyranny of the past. Somehow, it seems a cruel irony that the better things get, the more we are displeased with it. Hmmm... something of a "selfish brat" syndrome seems to be crying out here. What else could make us pound on the hard drive of our computers when the webpage we want doesn't come zooming up within nanoseconds of our command? Or puts our dander up when the printer doesn't spit out our documents instantaneously? They are completely inanimate objects, and are thus incapable of mercinary deeds, but we seem to forget that as thousands of expletives come out of the corporate offices of America against innocent hardware. Impatience. That has been the result of our ingenious developments. And when was the last time you went to the checkout at the supermarket and didn't roll your eyes when the person in front of you pulled out a checkbook, thereby assuring that you would spend at least an extra 2.5 minutes waiting for them to fill it out? Admit it, it wasn't that long ago. Impatience. It fills our freeways and docile neighborhood streets. It happens on the telephone (haven't you always wanted to tell off a telemarketer?). It practically screams out at line-standing places like the DMV. Perhaps the next time we want to roll our eyes, or groan over another's actions causing us even a fraction of a delay, we can choose to instead close our eyes and revert to a time when there was no such thing as Express Aisles, Qwik Washes, Take-out, or even The Fast Lane. Maybe we can even recall such thing as common courtesy (door holding, permitting to cut in, and-- gasp! heaven forbid!-- ladies first.) Then again, we may just find ourselves wandering in the wilderness with Moses. Maybe some things really do never change.
What is it that I see as I look around this vast era of improvement and enlightened technology? Impatience. People apparently were not satisfied with Model T Fords that could cruise around at the astonishing rate of 30 mph-- instead they wanted bigger, faster, and better. Now you're lucky not to be run down in the fast lane by a sporty white "Beamer" doing at least 105 with the license plate that says "Big Mama" and a driver to match. And look out if you don't get out of the way fast enough-- she's likely to care more about getting where she wants to be than paying a few hundred bucks for damages. Impatience. That seems to be what has come out of our progression, our freedom from tyranny of the past. Somehow, it seems a cruel irony that the better things get, the more we are displeased with it. Hmmm... something of a "selfish brat" syndrome seems to be crying out here. What else could make us pound on the hard drive of our computers when the webpage we want doesn't come zooming up within nanoseconds of our command? Or puts our dander up when the printer doesn't spit out our documents instantaneously? They are completely inanimate objects, and are thus incapable of mercinary deeds, but we seem to forget that as thousands of expletives come out of the corporate offices of America against innocent hardware. Impatience. That has been the result of our ingenious developments. And when was the last time you went to the checkout at the supermarket and didn't roll your eyes when the person in front of you pulled out a checkbook, thereby assuring that you would spend at least an extra 2.5 minutes waiting for them to fill it out? Admit it, it wasn't that long ago. Impatience. It fills our freeways and docile neighborhood streets. It happens on the telephone (haven't you always wanted to tell off a telemarketer?). It practically screams out at line-standing places like the DMV. Perhaps the next time we want to roll our eyes, or groan over another's actions causing us even a fraction of a delay, we can choose to instead close our eyes and revert to a time when there was no such thing as Express Aisles, Qwik Washes, Take-out, or even The Fast Lane. Maybe we can even recall such thing as common courtesy (door holding, permitting to cut in, and-- gasp! heaven forbid!-- ladies first.) Then again, we may just find ourselves wandering in the wilderness with Moses. Maybe some things really do never change.
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