Rubber Soul, 1/15

Why is faster better? Our discussion in class included this question that left me pondering. I just visited New York City for the first time and I noticed that the city people were on a much faster pace than I was used to. Everyone seemed to have to be somewhere in a hurry. Our taxi drivers didn't seem to mind nearly scraping another car as long as he didn't have to put on his breaks. It didn't take very long to get caught up in the quicker pace lifestyle though. You could get a hotdog or slice of pizza within 2 minutes of walking up to a food stand and be on your way and grab a cab with a wave of a finger. It's instantaneous gratification. But then once you get used to having things happening in a blink of an eye, frustration seems to outweigh patience. I read about a study that tested children and their level of patience. The researcher sat children down at a table with a marshmallow in front of them and told them that they could have 2 marshmallows if they could wait to eat it in 20 minutes when he gets back. The researchers then followed the progress of both groups of children--the ones that waited and the ones that didn't. The results showed that the children who waited were better adjusted, dependable, and scored higher on the SATs. The results about the SAT scores didn't really impress me, I know plenty of impatient people that are extremely intelligent, but I thought the characteristics for being a well adjusted and dependable person were significant findings. Getting what you want the second you ask for it all the time, doesn't leave much space for learning and appreciating some of the seemingly mundane things in between. And aren't the things that happen in between some of the most memorable anyway? Jack Johnson sings a song called, "What You Thought You Need," and my favorite part goes, "talk about the road behind how getting lost is not a waste of time."