I Do Not Like Mondays

The other day, we had a few Amazon returns to drop off. We stopped at a Staples store to have them processed and boxed up for us.

My wife went in to take care of it. Inside, she found herself in a line with two others in front of her. When she got to the counter, one of the items to return hit a snag: she lost connectivity or the internet died for a second or something, and she couldn’t pull up the return QR code on her phone to scan for the item.

The person at the counter handling the returns immediately began looking at her watch with displeasure. Discomfort was in the air. My wife made an off-handed comment to try to lighten the mood/state the obvious: “You get so used to everything being instantaneous that an extra 30 seconds feels like an eternity.”

But step back a second; it’s very true. All kinds of information and entertainment is now at our fingertips constantly, and we’ve become accustomed to everything instantaneous, on-demand. What you’re used to makes a difference, and everything is relative. Fifty-seven degrees on a given day in winter can feel like summertime, for example, while 57 degrees in summer can feel chilly.

So as our lives have become more instantaneous, we want everything now.

It’s not just standing in line that you notice this. You can see it out on the roadways and in life in general. Attention spans have been shortening (dwindling) and patience right along with them, in many ways. It can cause anxiety and consternation when we face the various logjams life places before us and that inevitably will happen.

Impatience is not a virtue — step back a second and breathe. Try to remember that a little waiting can make the arrival sweeter.

Content © Aaron G. Marsh

Lead photo by Andrea Piacquadio, Pexels