The Delta House

...all we need is just a little patience.

I’ve been thinking lately about time and my inability to manage it properly. Sure, there are some medical issues that are holding me back a little, but I just can’t seem to get done what needs to be done on time. Am I lazy, or just unrealistic when it comes to timelines?

Perhaps a little of both.

I think that society has conditioned me to be unrealistic when it comes to time expectations and deadlines. When I was a kid, I remember the Federal Express commercials that ended with “When it absolutely, positively has to be there on time.”

Is anything short of a human organ for transplant that important that it has to be there on time? Will the world end if our site in Orlando doesn’t receive their ground wire and lugs by 10am tomorrow? Is there that much of a difference in whether my house gets listed on December 4th or the 11th?

I don’t think so.

A hundred years ago, people were much more patient, and I think they were more content as well. Really, think about it. If you wanted to take your family from New York to Miami, you got on a train, and a few days later, you were there. You were rested, you had some quality time with your family, and you got to see some of this great country. Now, we fight traffic to get to the airport, rush to not miss the flight and arrive in Miami in a few hours. And we get pissed off if we have to wait twenty minutes to get through security or if our flight is delayed an hour or two!

Back then, if you wanted a turkey dinner, you had to cook it for hours and make sure that the fire in your oven didn’t go out. You had to regulate the temperature with the dampers and you had to watch over it diligently. Today, you can either hit the drive-thru at Boston Market or microwave a Swanson’s turkey dinner.

I have a ton more to spew on this subject, so I hope I have some time over the next few days. What do you think?