Impatient Americans

Ken AshfordRandom Musings1 Comment

If you’re like me, you might read this article and think "Yeah?  So?".  It’s absolutely true:

An Associated Press poll has found an impatient nation. It’s a nation that gets antsy after five minutes on hold on the phone and 15 minutes max in a line. So say people in the survey.

The Department of Motor Vehicles, the U.S. version of the old Soviet bread line, is among the top spots where Americans hate to wait. But grocery stores are the worst.

Almost one in four in the AP-Ipsos poll picked the grocery checkout as the line where their patience is most likely to melt like the ice cream turning to goo in their cart.

And it seems people don’t mellow with age. The survey found older people to be more impatient than younger people.

Nor does getting away from the urban pressure cooker make much difference. People in the country and the suburbs can bear a few more minutes in a line before losing it than city inhabitants can, but that’s it.

In short, Americans want it all NOW. Or awfully close to now.