Impatient

I’ve noticed I am much more impatient as time passes. anytime I am waiting for the coffee to drip, the microwave to ding, the TV show to load, I tap my foot, I count, I pace. Why is this? I don’t remember being so impatient when I was younger.

If you Google this question you’ll be told it’s due to stress, environmental issues, innate personal traits, and many other reasons. I think, for me, it’s much simpler. It’s the inventions that give us things instantaneously or very close to that. That microwave when you can have something hot to eat in minutes. Coffee machines that produce a good cup of coffee so quickly. TV shows that are dropped by the season instead of weekly giving us binge watching.

And cell phones….factor in phone calls, emails and texts available 24/7, photos in seconds (and delete the bad ones immediately), and so much more. No more waiting for snail mail. No more waiting to get home to check the physical answering machine. Heck, I even remember when you had to keep calling someone if they weren’t home! Instant photographs, no waiting for developing only to find out you had your thumb in front of the camera or the film was bad or you had double exposures (remember those days?).

And, of course, computers and the internet where information is always available at your fingertips. No more trekking to the library to research or waiting to talk to an expert. And no matter where you live, you can order things to be shipped to you – sometimes with same or next day delivery.

Growing up in the 50s/60s, things were much different. Was that better? In some ways. But I admit to a preference to today’s technology and I will continue to strive to calm my impatience as I wait for my coffee or a web page to load.

Are you more or less impatient nowadays?