Are you impatient?

[Arch]

I was waiting at lights to cross the road this morning - I know the junction, so I know when I can chance it, if one lane is stopped at the red for example and the other green but empty, but today I was just sort of switched off waiting for the green man.

Chap on a bike at the head of the stopped lane helpfully told me I could probably cross safely - which was true. So I did, but I thought afterwards -

Did he expect that I was impatiently waiting for the lights? Are we generally more impatient that we were, in an age of instant this and that. I think I'm generally quite patient in those terms (traffic lights, queues in shops etc) - unless I'm in a hurry for a specific reason...

On the other hand, the quicker I can cook dinner, the better. I have to really want to do something that requires 45 minutes roasting or whatever...

 

[Mr Phoebus]

If I pull up at the lights and they are a long sequence, I just stand there astride my bike, swigging from my water bottle. I think of them as refreshment stops.

 

[gbyers]

And your point is?

Couldn't you have made it faster?

I haven't got time to read four paragraphs of drivel, just give me the headlines.

45 minutes for dinner, are you mad. I even microwave instant coffee.


No, I don't think I'm impatient at all.

 

[Keith Oates]

I continue swigging the water bottle after the lights are green just to extend the rest period!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[domtyler]

Why would you microwave instant coffee, it is far quicker to boil a cup of water in the kettle and make your instant coffee in the traditional way. You're fired.

 

[gbyers]

Why would you microwave instant coffee, it is far quicker to boil a cup of water in the kettle and make your instant coffee in the traditional way. You're fired.

OK, race you. Ah, too bad, I'm already drinking mine so you lost!

Steven Wright joke

I put a cup of instant coffee in the microwave. I almost went back in time.

 

[bonj2]

I was waiting at lights to cross the road this morning - I know the junction, so I know when I can chance it, if one lane is stopped at the red for example and the other green but empty, but today I was just sort of switched off waiting for the green man.

Chap on a bike at the head of the stopped lane helpfully told me I could probably cross safely - which was true. So I did, but I thought afterwards -

Did he expect that I was impatiently waiting for the lights? Are we generally more impatient that we were, in an age of instant this and that. I think I'm generally quite patient in those terms (traffic lights, queues in shops etc) - unless I'm in a hurry for a specific reason...

On the other hand, the quicker I can cook dinner, the better. I have to really want to do something that requires 45 minutes roasting or whatever...

I don't understand this thread. Were YOU being impatient, or were you dismayed that HE was being impatient, or were you disappointed that he THOUGHT YOU were being impatient, or was he worried that YOU thought HE was being impatient?

 

[Arch]

I don't understand this thread. Were YOU being impatient, or were you dismayed that HE was being impatient, or were you disappointed that he THOUGHT YOU were being impatient, or was he worried that YOU thought HE was being impatient?

I wasn't being impatient, I was just standing in the traffic island in the middle of the crossing. I wasn't disappointed or worried about anything. I was just wondering, in a purely academic sort of way, about the cyclist's perception of my need to get across the road sooner rather than later.

More generally, it set me thinking about whether people think they are patient or not, and whether impatience is a growing phenomemon or not...

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

I was just wondering, in a purely academic sort of way,


More generally, it set me thinking about whether people think they are patient or not, and whether impatience is a growing phenomemon or not...

Another Ph.D is on its way.

 

[yello]

I'd imagine people are now used to getting what they want pretty quickly. Technology has played a large part in that. So, yes, I'd guess people are generally not prepared to wait as long as they might once have done.

So I guess what your context of impatience is. Am I impatient compared to people of 50 years ago - more than likely. Compared to others today? Probably! I'm just impatient - but hide it well!!

 

[bonj2]

I wasn't being impatient, I was just standing in the traffic island in the middle of the crossing. I wasn't disappointed or worried about anything. I was just wondering, in a purely academic sort of way, about the cyclist's perception of my need to get across the road sooner rather than later.

More generally, it set me thinking about whether people think they are patient or not, and whether impatience is a growing phenomemon or not...

ah, so you made the oservation that he seemed conscious that you might be getting impatient, when in fact you weren't.

Personally I'm very impatient when it comes to things like mail order, solicitors, etc. and when companies tell you "this will take 2 weeks" when if you consider what actually has to be done it's very little work. This is just annoying - why can't they just DO IT.

I'm actually quite patient on the road. No really I am. I cannot stand drivers whose sole objective seems to be to get past the driver in front, or to "gain a place" in the pecking order. It's as if they seem to think that every road user you "get past" is a personal victory, and every road user that gets past them is to be seen as a personal attack. This annoys me because it displays a sense of irrationality, or more harshly, a severe mental deficiency, in a shocking proportion of the population.

 

[barq]

I think I'm similar to bonj in this respect. I'm fine with roads (cycling or driving) I just take my turn and I get there when I get there. When it comes to mail order, I pretty much only buy from companies who do next day delivery. Seems hard to believe that once upon a time 28 days delivery was standard!

 

[spen666]

I continue swigging the water bottle after the lights are green just to extend the rest period!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and to increase the rest period you have a 4 litre water bottle

 

[spen666]

...drivers whose sole objective seems to be to get past the driver in front, or to "gain a place" in the pecking order. It's as if they seem to think that every road user you "get past" is a personal victory, and every road user that gets past them is to be seen as a personal attack. ...

That seems a reasonable approach to me- with the added fun of forcing off the road those who fail to give me the priority I crave

 

[Amanda P]

Zen, me.

Except when it comes to waiting for the computer. It's supposed to be able to think faster than me, so how come I seem to spend so much time waiting for it?