Public Servant Lifestyle

Violent outbursts happen because life fails to keep pace with technology, claims professor.

An academic says steps have to be taken to combat people's growing intolerance to waiting. Professor Ellis Cashmore believes the rise in angry or violent public outbursts has happened because some areas of life have failed to keep pace with the modern technological world.

Lectirere in culture, media and sport at Staffordshire University, Prof. Cashmore was addressing a sociology conference in the US. "Traffic, supermarket queues and cashpoint machines have become hotspots for anger because they have not kept up with the speed of modern life," he said.

"All involve waiting. But we've grown impatient because we've become accustomed to getting what we want instantly in so many other areas of life.

Less Tolerant

"We are becoming less tolerant of delays in gratification. We just can't speed up some parts of life as we can others, so we need to think creatively how to distract people, to take their minds off the waiting, or in some cases just pacify them."

He pointed out that Disney World tackled the problem of frustrated customers in huge queues for popular rides by sending out workers dressed as Mickey and Goofy to joke and jape and have pictures taken with them.

The academic rejects the argument that alcohol served on planes fuels the rise in so-called air-rage incidents. He said: "It's a convenient excuse. Much more likely is that the long waiting times, checking in or making connections, frustrates passengers. By the time they get on the plane, they have probably been hanging around airports doing nothing for three hours or more."

Thought for Today

Look well to this Day
For it is Life...
The very Best of Life!
In its brief course lie all
The Realities and Truths of Existence
The Joy of Growth!
The Splendour of Action!
The Glory of Power!

For Yesterday is but a memory
And Tomorrow is only a vision
But Today IF LIVED WELL makes
Every yesterday a Memory of Happiness
And every tomorrow a Vision of Hope

LOOK WELL THEREFORE TO THIS DAY (Ancient Sanskrit Poem)

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