MorristownMemos

What does Walt Disney’s animated film, Cinderella, have in common with every frantic, rushing modern day person? Here’s a clue:

It starts with a scene in which a group showing the cute little mice working to sew a beautiful gown for Cinderella As they sew they sing they sing, “Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry ‘got to help our Cinderelly.” Thanks to the group effort they finish their seamstress skills, completing the gown in time for our heroine to wear to the prince’s ball.

And we all have been hurrying ever since! Can it be that our rush started with a film about Cinderella? I believe it started way before that time.

My midwestern friend says I rush too much because I am an easterner and don’t know how to relax. I haven’t learned the technique of moving with moderation. Why can’t I proceed slowly? Is what I am hurrying to complete really a task that couldn’t wait until another time, like tomorrow? These are questions she throws at me.

Easterners who visit the south return with tales of the beautiful countryside, friendly people and great food but the complain about the incredibly slow way Southerners move. “Why, just going into a diner for breakfast could take a whole hour!” It’s hard to gobble down a hearty breakfast in that amount of time, especially if you’re accustomed to wolfing down a cup of coffee and piece of toast on your way out the door.

I am what I am used to; the way I think, the way I accomplish things and the way I move:
FAST. I can’t dawdle. It’s impossible to slow down. Concentrate on one thing at a time? No; I must multitask; I can’t understand how anyone could simply sit and do nothing but speak on the telephone. At least empty the dishwasher while you talk; check the mail while you’re chatting, confer with your calendar about the week’s appointments. How can you simply sit and speak on the phone without doing anything else? Single tasking is a concept that I cannot understand or abide by.

The medical field has interfered with how we move. Evidence shows that moving rapidly raises the heart rate. This is a good thing. Raised heart rates rush blood to the brain. It creates more Energy. Confers clear thinking. Improves memory. All of these wonderful attributes are brought to you by the rushing of blood to the brain, they tell us. I hope that in its rush to the brain no blood gets waylaid and gets diverted somewhere else. I don’t know where else it could go, but I am not a scientist and am not conversant in those issues.

I was recently informed by an unnamed person from a later generation that the act of speaking itself is a terrible waste of time. Emailing used to be a more sensible way to communicate. I felt very modern and sophisticated when I learned to email. Typing quick answers to a question, rather than wasting time calling, waiting for someone to answer the phone and speaking to the person. And then waiting for an answer.

But now it turns out that email is far too slow. The current way to communicate is by texting. Texting is faster. Pretty soon texting will be obsolete, and we’ll be able to read minds. Then we can communicate without bothering to speak, write or text. Hmm; I can hardly wait. How about you?

Looking far into the future, my vision is clear. It has to do with our last day on earth. The day St.Peter comes to call and collect his human followers, what do you suppose will happen?

Will there be chaos in the clouds? I can see it all now; a large unruly group will be standing in line, impatiently rushing and pushing. What is their rush? Each soul is frantically trying to be the first to get through those pearly gates.