The Two-Minute Tyranny

 

The Two-Minute Tyranny

 

For a decade & more, the ritual was the same: Customers in a Bank  would spend an hour—often more—sitting in a dimly lit  branch, waiting for a human teller to process a simple withdrawal. People accepted it as the inherent cost of doing business. Time was sluggish, and in turn, we were patient.

 

Then came the "innovative" bank teller systems. The wait time dropped to 30 minutes. Customers felt like they were living in the future. "A breeze," they called it.

 

Later, the first Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) arrived; bringing with it joy that knew no bounds. Money at the tap of a button ? No teller? No lines? It was instant gratification wrapped in plastic and steel. We felt this was the absolute peak, a pinnacle of efficiency that could never ever be surpassed.

 

But, Yippee, it did.

 

Technology continued to accelerate its clock speed, altering every facet of life. Consequently, people   unknowingly developed  uncompromising  characteristics, even for minor hiccups and  adopted a zero-tolerance policy.

Yesterday, I witnessed that illusion of boundless tolerance come crashing down. As I was leaving the bank, a middle-aged gentleman walked up to the ATM booth. He was forced to wait as another customer was engaged in a transaction. I watched as the person in front stumbled through the process. The man waiting behind grew restless, gripping his wallet, & fuming.

I could fairly guess what he was thinking: Clearly vicious, turning every second into an hour. After just two minutes—a time frame that would have been considered faster than blinking a decade ago—the man was ready to scream.

As he shuffled impatiently, I had the staggering realization about the world today, the terrifying truth of this era: As technology brings us closer to instant results, it makes us less capable of waiting for anything at all. Patience, once seasoned  to endure long delays has been optimized and compressed until it is brittle, snapping at a mere 120 seconds of inconvenience.

Technology is making the world move faster and faster, and it has set us racing against time that seems to be riding a runaway treadmill.