It seems to me like people these days aren’t as relaxed due to the stresses of everyday life. They also want certain things done in a quicker manner rather than being patient about it.
So, what’s the main cause of this & what would fix this problem?
Awww, crap, I wrote a lengthy reply, footnotes and all, then it got eaten. No time right now to retype it, I’ll try later, too much to do.
Uh, yeah. My pace is slow to stopped. So I see people rushing and hurrying for stupid reasons. I like to stop and smell the flowers. I know I’m an outmoded idea. But I don’t care.
SHUT UP AND GET TO THE POINT!!![/bender]
You are really loud and impatient today. Calm down. It’s gonna be alright. Just keep a hand over your beer. If it’s chunky beer it ain’t right, just saying.
I’m retired so I finally have time to slow down.
My wife’s best friend couldn’t believe how exhausted she was when we had “one little baby.” After all, how much trouble could taking care of a baby be while you also had a full-time job. So we let her take the baby for a weekend. You know, when no one had to go to work.
She apologized profusely to my wife. Yeah, there are a lot of people who are lucky to even get a chance to go through the drive-through at McDonalds.
As for those young, single, carefree folks, they’re all working 50+ hours a week, running errands before, after, or during work, and trying to have some kind of social life, even if it’s only online. And those middle-aged empty nesters who are coasting to retirement? Ask them how much time they spend helping out their aging parents.
I regularly vacation with a small group. One woman in particular virtually speed-walks wherever she goes. If you saw us walking in, say, Rome, you’d see a woman cruising along like she’s late for a bowel movement and a group of adults straining to keep up.
I am a casual walker by design; even more so when I am on vacation. I want to relax, not motor along like the pavement is on fire. I want no such urgency while on holiday.
I’ve only recently decided I have every right to walk at my own pace. The others are free to walk at theirs.
mmm
There is certainly a noticeable drop in the Aloha spirit in Hawaii between when the wife and I were students here in the early 1990s and now. Road rage in particular is out of control. I blame overcrowding. The population of Honolulu and the state as well has grown 25% since our student days, and there’s a proportional increase in automobiles. I rode a bicycle everywhere back then but consider it would be suicidal today.
Yeah, and lots of people have good reasons for it. When my father worked, and when I started to work, you mostly were home when you were home. Really important people - and teachers - brought work home with them.
Entertainment was a few TV stations, radio, and maybe a few records, that was it, besides books. You’d see reviews of the TV shows in TV guide.
You talked to a few far away friends on the phone or wrote them letters.
Now you have to check your email every minute it seems. By the time I retired I could work as home as well or better than I could work at my desk. At 1 am I sent my vice Program Chair an email - he was in Texas, two hours later than me - and he responded immediately.
We have DVDs, streaming, more channels, but more importantly we’re inundated by the fans of a show who make you feel that you’re missing out if you don’t watch. You feel that you are always falling behind.
We have the same number of hours in the day as when I was a kid, but 2 times (or more) people creating content. In the late '60s I could keep up with pretty much all the sf worth reading. Now, no way.
And those on Facebook or Twitter have even more content to wade through.
No wonder everyone feels rushed. They are.
I mostly blame smart phones — seriously. I recently realized almost all my problems come down to two things: being easily distracted, and being easily agitated (sometimes escalating to anger). Expecting to be able to do, learn, or find “anything” by fiddling with a black rectangular object has made me impatient.In yesterday’s New York Times, someone tried to live like it’s 1994. For the first few days, the din of her inner voice, forcibly disengaged from the phone, was deafening. Then, the voice went away.
Maybe I feel rushed and impatient. Because every single day, there are just hundreds of people walking slowly, taking their time at the store, wandering around slowly on the sidewalk, driving slowly on the roads. MOVE PEOPLE!
I completely agree with this…and the internet in general. Heck, I’m at the point where my internet speeds (and we need the bandwidth here with a 49, 17 and 13 year old gamers in our apartment, constantly in the tech bubble) are so blazing here at home (about 300 down, 30 up) that every other computer I use at work, library, etc is like on dial up to me.
We are certainly spoiled in this era, but I am old enough to have straddled both worlds: black and white tv, tv remotes with cords and dials, HBO in 1980, rotary phones, REMEMBERING phone numbers, etc.
As a retail worker, I’d have to say that certain shoppers are more in a rush. However, the older people are usually slower.
I’m cool with older people taking their time. But everyone seems to just be lollygagging around all the time. Scan your crap, pay the bill, and get the hell out! How hard is it? Don’t get me started on people at the ATM who are seemingly making advanced financial transactions for 15 minutes. Get your money and get out of the way!
Part of it is choice. Some people choose that kind of lifestyle. They pick high demand careers, then pick a ton of extra curricular activities for their kids. They buy a house that needs constant upkeep and repairs. As a result they’re always busy. And if they do have down time fhey look for something to do (some home repair or upgrade).
Personally I hate being rushed. I didn’t have kids, I live in an apartment, I try to pick jobs that are low stress and have down time. I have a decent amount of free time because of it.
Nowadays I really notice it’s a departure from normalcy when people sit down, explain themselves, want to explore the issues at hand, figure out how I’m feeling, talk through the various courses of action and select the right one.
Pretty much I brush those people off because who has time for that shit? Get to the goddamn point already.
I do remember reading a big news story out of Honolulu few years ago. It seems one driver honked (twice!) at another who was trying to pass him. He was convicted of “Hawaiian Road Rage” and sentenced to 10 years hard chillin’.
Seriously–I’m trying to imagine what passes for road rage in Hawaii.
tl;dr
Could someone summarize the responses so far; ain’t nobody got time to read all this.
This place never disappoints. 
Speaking for myself, I’m just sick of advertising everywhere, all the time. You know how you’ll hear women complain sometimes about just wanting to go out with some friends but there’s always some guy wanting to stick a dick into her? It’s like that. I just want to watch TV/check out a website/drive to work/go hiking/have dinner/take my dog to the vet/whatever, and it’s impossible to do it without someone wanting to stick their hand into my wallet. So when I do venture out, I try to get the mission accomplished as quickly as possible so I can get back to the relative peace of home. If someone delays my mission by trying to engage me in a conversation (invariably an attempt to get into my wallet!) I lose just a little bit more of my mind. Goddamned Girl Scouts with their cookies barricading the entrance to the grocery store are the worst. I usually end up punching one or two of the more chatty ones every year.
So yeah, um, I’m in a hurry to get away from “fantastic once in a lifetime deals”. I’m grouchy because I’ve gone into the world, and you’ll get grouched at if you’re holding me up. What would fix it is if everyone would just stay home until I’m done doing what I need to do, and if you can’t manage that then at least don’t engage me. I’m not smiling, so fuck off already.