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Slow down society and take a break |
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Posted Nov. 14, 2008 |
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A pirate, a princess or a super hero. “What should I be?” I thought to myself. As I rounded the corner at the store looking for more costumes, my eyes were assaulted by blinking lights and candy. But it was not Halloween candy. And the lights were bright red and bright green. I took a closer look, and I realized that I was really seeing what I thought I was seeing. Commercial Christmas had hit the shelves, and Halloween was not even over yet. I wanted to laugh, because it was all so sick. The only thing going through my mind was, “Why are we so impatient?” No wonder every year it seems like the world is turning faster and faster. Is it really necessary to have Christmas lights, ornaments and candy in October? Our society is constantly moving. We have drive-thrus at restaurants because taking five extra minutes to buy the food they heat up in the microwave is just too much time. Stores have drive-thru pharmacies. And if you are driving the posted speed limit on the freeway, you are driving too slowly. What happened to relaxing? I am not sure, but taking time to relax seems almost impossible in our society. Though cell phones are great inventions, they make us accessible at all hours, every day of the week. Vacations are no longer sacred. Neither are weekends or sick days. I have made the mistake of giving my cell phone number to people who call me whenever they feel like it. Sometimes they feel like calling at 2 a.m. Aren’t cell phones great? Telemarketers call our wonderful little masterpieces of technology too. I have received dozens of calls from a company that keeps telling me that I need to renew the warranty on my car. I still have no clue how it got my number because I have never had a warranty on my car. As far as I know, no company out there would want to put a warranty on a 1972 Oldsmobile. My mom receives calls on a daily basis from a collection agency that is looking for a man she has never even heard of. They even call on Sunday. Our society needs to take a break. It is made obvious by the fact that so many of the commercials on TV have to do with medications for anxiety. One of the catch phrases for our 21st century society is, “I am so stressed out.” I wonder if people in the future will look back at our then dated commercials and problems and think we must have all been crazy and we all must have been suffering from anxiety disorders and attention deficit. We are all moving too fast. Retail stores are one area that is so telling about how fast our society moves. They put out fall clothes in the summer, winter clothes in the fall and they start putting up swimsuits in winter. Atleast that is how it is in Southern California. And do not forget the holidays. You may be lucky enough to find Christmas decorations in summer. And who knows, Target may just carry the decorations year-round to save you the hassle of waiting until the “last minute” in November. Gosh forbid if they actually waited to put out the Christmas decorations at Christmas. Susan Acker, a senior journalism major, is managing editor of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at susan.acker@laverne.edu. |
