I Demand Instant Gratification

My children are a product of the Internet age. They will grow up never needing to wait 6-8 weeks for delivery. They will not need to take a trip to the library to find a book to read. They will never have to take me at my word when they ask a question, they will just Google the right answer. It is a brave new world in which they live.

While I'm a good old Gen-X'er, I'm what is referred to by marketing folks as an Early Adopter. When I see something new and interesting the single factor keeping me from owning it is money. I will buy most anything I can afford, I will try every new technology offered to me. I may not have been born in the Internet age, but I sure feel at home here.

The byproduct of all this wonderful technology and all these convenient gadgets I own, is a complete lack of patience. I just don't need to be patient very much anymore. All the information I need is a click away and when I order something, I can have it in a couple of days. Thanks to my computer guy husband I have the fastest access we can afford and more computers in my home than any family should really be allowed to have. Like Veruca Salt, I want it now!

So now that I'm sitting comfortably in a womb of instant gratification, I can't help but wonder why it is that everyone else hasn't joined me here. When I send a message to someone online, I really do expect to hear back right away. I keep forgetting that there are really people out there without constant Internet access. There are people who are actually not plugged in every waking moment of their lives.

I mention all of this as a reminder to everyone who needs one. My husband had to remind me yesterday as I agonized over the lack of response to a convo I had just sent. This is not Ghost In The Shell, we are not all connected all the time, even though it may truly feel that way sometimes. Give people a moment to respond, give yourself a moment to relax. You don't really need to know everything right this instant. Try to think back to a simpler time, when you did have patience, when no one expected you to ship something out the second they ordered it. Dwell in that moment, get off the computer, live your life, if just for a couple of hours. All the people in your life that love you will thank you for it!