Patience is a virtue . . . a lost virtue?

Patience is a virtue . . . a lost virtue? is the Subject of this Big B File.

       You all know the old saying “Patience is a virtue”.  It seems like it is in very short supply these days if not lost altogether in today’s society. People seem to always be in a hurry in a society where people have to have it now (instant gratification) and seem to feel that they have no time to wait for anything.  It seems like it is always go, go, go and nobody has time to wait for anything . . . and time to go and smell the roses.

       I’ll admit that this has occurred as well. For example, I have been in traffic here in St. Louis County and have said aloud in my car to tell others to get moving, to hurry up without telling them nor honking the horn . . . such patience, huh ?!? Allow me to give you a few more examples of what I mean.

      When I worked at MERS Goodwill in Florissant, MO, I observed at times people who were in such a hurry and could not wait for myself or another dock attendant to come out and accept the donation that they would just drop them off by the side of the building (a.k.a. dumping) or just drive off in a huff and getting upset in the process.  Now, I should just note that this is not indicative of the majority of donors, but a good number of them.  I would always find myself uttering (under my breath) the old saying “Patience is a Virtue.”         

      In the second example, I was in a Wal-Mart Supercenter once and there were a bunch of people waiting in the checkout line to go through checkout at one of the busiest times of the day.  People began to complain about it taking so long to check out and that the lines were going real slow.  People did not want to be patient and be understanding of the poor clerks who were going as fast as they could.

      Recently, I was on my way to a local Catholic Church to have my confession heard. I was like in a race to “beat the clock” before the priests would quit hearing confessions before mass. I ended up behind a SUV that seemed to be in no hurry to get anywhere . . . even going below the speed limit. I would edge up closer to try to get them to speed up and even thought of honking the horn a few times myself. After confession, I realized that I had lost the virtue of patience myself and had gotten upset over something for no good reason at all.

      It seems like the virtue of patience has been lost.  As the above examples state, people seem to want to throw patience to the curb and believe that it is something that they do not have time for.  I believe that a lack of patience is why we have so many incidents of road rage, running red lights, accidents with people following too closely from aggressive driving, etc.

      If people were more patient in a lot of areas, not only would they feel better, but places like the St. Louis Metropolitan Area (in which I live) would be a much better place to live as well as this country of ours. Maybe it is time for ALL of us to be patient with ourselves and with each other…or as the old saying goes, to “take the time to stop and smell the roses.”

 And that’s the Big B File.  Click on the comments link below and tell me what you think…. I’m Bryan Hewing.

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