According to Wikipedia (which ironically [you will see it by the end of the blog***] is where I got my information), there is a list of heavenly virtues which are the counterparts to the Seven Deadly Sins (incidentally the theme of the murders in a very cool movie. [If you haven't seen Se7en - shame on you and where have you been???])
I think our society is beginning to drop the ball a bit on "Patience'. At least most of us are not replacing it with the counterpart of 'Wrath'.
We must have everything RIGHT NOW... We desire immediate gratification. Back in the day people would actually right letters to communicate with each other, or call on the phone and leave a message (or *Gasp* call back later if it was before voice mail).
We would actually turn on the stove to heat water, or cook a snack.
We I remember actually looking through stacks of books, including the big shelf with the red encyclopedias to finish a research paper.
Today, people need to get their very important information to you so fast they send you an email and probably follow it up with a voice mail and a test to make sure you got the information.
Granted, I can appreciate cell phones and email. In a hectic business environment I am not sure how some things could have gone as smoothly as they do today with the ease of communication that we have.
At the same time I find it odd when people do not get an immediate response from you or if you dare to not answer your cell phone. It wasn't that long ago - do people remember what they did before texting and voice mail / answering machines (not to mention cell phones)?
I remember it being very exciting for us when Mom got a microwave oven. (Yes, Mom was excited too... She has always been more into practical gifts over glitzy...). Now, say 20 years later, I find myself staring into the microwave watching my pizza or sandwich turn on the little magic tray urging it to hurry up, not wanting to wait the whole three minutes for my food to heat up... (Maybe that is why I can appreciate cold pizza...)
Back in my day we had to venture into the library and deep into the stacks (never did get to smuggle beer in and drink one in the stacks with Courtney and Stephanie - we wanted to do it by the books about beer and/or brewing), to find the book we needed. I have had to use the card catalog to find out where to find it (that dude Dewey had WAY too much time on his hands), during college it was getting to the point where you could search for the book on a computer and then go find the book in the aforementioned stacks or get the article on the way cool microfiche... A small amount of my research was done on the still somewhat new World Wide Web.
Today I think it would be very cool for a teacher to assign a research paper in which the internet could NOT be used. The students would have to (first find the library) then spend several hours in it to get all the information they needed. Of course this could cause a lot of their heads to explode a la "Scanners".
Today so many things are done on the internet. From shopping to dating. When I was a kid we would buy a roll of stamps every couple of months. NOW, we may need to buy a book every six months. That is how many bills are even done online.
We can't be bothered to travel to the store or are too busy or don't have the time to do the foot work and go to several stores to find exactly what we want, so we turn to the keyboard and with a bit of searching, we find what we want and can buy it and have it shipped to our home within a couple of days (sooner if we are really wrathful or whatever they opposite of patient is - I could look it up but I can't be bothered to open up a new tab and find out on the trusty internet).
It is the same way for dating and finding that perfect someone. It used to be that you would have to actually leave the house, and go to a bar or the local watering hole, or socialize with someone at work other than shooting them and email of a funny joke. We are talking actual face time here. Today, you can go to any number of sites and fill in all your criteria and voilà (looked up online - as I am not 100% on where a physical dictionary is and could not remember the spelling), you have a list of individual fitting everything that you are looking for along with way to contact them without picking up a phone or actually leaving the house.
One final thing (for this blog anyway - I am getting tired) that has changed a lot in recent years is entertainment. We are now able to find out all about upcoming movies, music and books well before their actual release. Back in the day we would have to look in these nifty things called newspapers and magazines to find out when the new project by our favorite actor or musician was coming out. We would have to go to the movies in order to see the trailer for the movie we were anticipating the release of. Even then, we would only be able to see it once, we would have to buy another ticket to see the three minute tease another time. (Even to find the movie theatre that a movie was playing, we would have to check the paper or call Moviefone. I mentioned - or explained the concept rather - after I used my best Moviefone voice and received only a blank stare from the 19 year old as she had NO CLUE what I was talking about.)
Now with a quick internet search, we can find out all kinds of dirt on the movie and it's stars, leaked photos and trailers a year or more in advance of the release.
I don't know if it is impatience, or if we are becoming lazy(ier) or if it is simply the natural evolution of things. In any case, I can't help but wonder (if things have changed this much in my life to this point, what will it be like at the end of my life.
Is the concept of Virtual Reality or the film "Surrogates" that far off?
Maybe soon, we won't have to leave the house at all...
***'Written' completely with out pen, paper, or use of any research material other than the internet and ideas and concepts I heard from podcasts downloaded from the internet.
At least my wrath is in check...
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