We're All Just One Big Now Generation

Link to December 6 NPR story, "Impatient Nation: I Can't Wait For You To Read This".

Excerpt: In the past few decades we have become the Impatient Nation. We want quick answers to complex problems — the economy, diseases, personal relations.

We: Speed date. Eat fast food. Use the self-checkout lines in grocery stores. Try the "one weekend" diet. Pay extra for overnight shipping. Honk when the light turns green. Thrive or dive on quarterly earnings reports. Speak in half sentences. Start things but don't fin...

We twitter stories in 140 characters or less, yet some tweets are too long. We cut corners, take shortcuts. We txt.

We have also become impatient with ... wait for it ... impatience.

Speaking for many Americans, prolific author Valerie Frankel wrote in the March issue of Self magazine: "I've always imagined that my impatient nature is a sign of my success — something that all busy, hard-driving, intelligent people share."

I've had it with impatient people. I've run out of patience with them.

But after melting down emotionally at a sandwich shop and a clothing store, Frankel wondered if her impatience might be "something more insidious — a bad habit I needed to break, not only for my family but also for the sake of my own well-being."