Technology and Instant Gratification

There is something absolutely, horribly wrong with our generation. I've complained before about this. I'm guilty of this. And I'm still upset at myself for becoming a part of this society that promotes it. This idea that we can get whatever we want at the snap of a finger or a click of a button is absolutely absurd, and yet everyone in our age bracket subscribes to it. Thanks to the internet, cell phones, email, everything can be done without having to think too much about it. If we want information on the Biafran conflict all we have to do is type it in to a search engine and all of your results pop up. When we want a rare LP we don't have to scour the continent looking for it, we go to e-bay. Hell, we don't even have to go to the grocery store anymore as all you have to do is place an online order to have it all delivered to you. We're a lazy people wanting information at our fingertips without the arduous search for knowledge that people of older generations held as a privilege. Everything we have we take for granted.

Our parents struggled through a world that didn't offer such luxuries. They worked their asses off so that we could have a better life. But what did it actually do to us? It made us ungrateful, unappreciative, lazy, unintelligent. I'll be the first to admit that I succumbed to the appeal of instant information and the lack of work. I did not strive to my potential in either High School or College. I could have been a straight-A student who worked to improve all of his skills in the academic field, but I chose to wing it. My "success" in the world of academia has proven the lax structure of today's society. It's appalling. In all honesty, I shouldn't be graduating college. I should have flunked out long ago, but for some odd reason, whether it be some cunning on my part or the imbecility of the institution to detect when their students are bull-shitting their way through an education, I'm making it through.

While we may tend to believe that this isn't too bad and that perhaps it's simply because we don't have the drive or the care for the educational process that others do, I think it's exactly that laziness and dependence on instant gratification that causes this. Prior to our time the idea of an education was not a right. Well, it was, but only in the beginning of the 20th century did it become this way. College was not a right. These things were held sacred to our ancestors. The process was appreciated, held in high esteem and coveted by people who may not have had the opportunity to go through it. Now all we want is our diploma without having to work a day in our lives for it.

This way of living, this getting everything we want by simply ordering it carries on to our personal lives. We no longer put forth the effort that we should in order to gain something worth holding on to. We see a job as simply a job and if it doesn't suit us then we move on. When my mom and grandparents came to this country my grandfather took up a job as a butcher in order to support his family and put his girl through school. He never once came in late or left early, nor did he call in sick. He didn't complain, he didn't make a fuss. Why? Because his life was still far better than what he had in Communist Cuba. Because fighting for the betterment of his family was more important than petty complaining. And look at ourselves. How many sick days have we taken? How many times have we not gone to work because we didn't feel like going? How many times did we show up late or leave early because it just didn't feel like it was worth going to?

Seeing what my grandparents (on all sides), my mom and my dad have done in their lives makes me ashamed of myself. They taught me to see things through to the end, to finish what I started, to apply myself and put all of myself into whatever project I chose to undertake. The first two I am able to do, but I feel as though I've failed in the application of my being in everything. I often half-ass projects so that I could just get it done rather than get it done right. I'm trying not to do that anymore. But really, how many of you out there have given up on something because it didn't seem like fun right away? How many sports have you quit because you didn't like the people? How many things have you thrown away because you refused to take the time to understand the product? Have you lived up to your potential, or have you told yourself you couldn't do it because it didn't come instantly? I appreciate the struggle. I appreciate the process. I know I've abandoned some things because I wasn't good at them and with that I've taken the process for granted. Maybe that says something about my character. But like the process itself, just give it time and I'll prove myself otherwise. Though this instant gratification is once again shown through this damned post. All I have to do is write down my thoughts and hit "publish." It doesn't make me a writer, it doesn't make me good. It just makes me another schmuck on the internet telling people how he feels when no one wants to listen.

Sorry Andrew, I know you don't like reading lengthy pieces on computer screens.