I feel we are all living at a pace that is ruining our health, even shortening our lives. Life in my young days was standing to use the village public telephone, at the bus stop awaiting transport to work, or to go shopping, or to seek entertainment, is now replaced by personal cars, instant knowledge, instant entertainment, instant communication, at the touch of a button. Obesity is rife they say, pollution is high, boredom is prompting vandalism and crazy thoughts.
When we want something, we expect it now, and Amazon obliges instantly. This old codger remembers the age when you saved up to meet that ‘want’. Expectation and patience went together.
If we need something, all too often that takes time to be fulfilled. Health and Care services are overwhelmed and unable to oblige as promptly as we would wish. Staff levels and services are no longer adequate to meet demand. A dangerous situation. A similar situation can be seen in our education services.
Whilst commerce will attempt to deliver as soon as possible, those elected by the public to oversee and run our public services and national governments, do not give us the confidence to respond to our needs, as we would wish. They have to seek advice; set up working parties, quangos, committees, and the like. The structure of government of our country needs an urgent overall. Centuries old systems are no place for our ‘Instant world’.
Nero and his fiddle come to mind.
BOOK FIVE of my POEMS BY AN OLD CODGER has a poem on this subject. I offer it below.
Hope it gives you food for thought too.
INSTANT WORLD
Instant coffee, instant tea,
Instant custard for you and for me.
Instant meals, frozen chips,
‘Three For Two’ to widen the hips.
Instant beans, instant peas, instant salads,
Instant fruit for all those healthy lads.
Instant food in every store,
Not seasonal produce anymore.
Instant light, just a switch to flick,
Instant heat, no coal nor stick.
Instant water, hot or cold,
Instant flow, a trickle or bold.
Instant journeys if you have a car
To travel near or travel far.
Instant contact between friends with ease,
Instant news from across the seas.
Instant photos, instant films,
Instant ‘selfies’ of ‘hers’ and ‘hims’.
Instant shopping but not in shops,
Instant orders on phones or laptops.
Our instantaneous expectation
Is met by retailers across our nation.
Not so our beleaguered NHS,
Overwhelmed and now full of stress.
No instant appointments for diagnosis
By phone nor at their medical premises.
“We’ll set up a Working Party”, “An Inquiry”,
“We’ll fix a Debate date in our diary”.
“We need to discuss a strategy”,
So, they set up a sub-committee of a committee,
Our politicians just prevaricate,
We are heading for an “Instantgate”
We’ve lost our patience, our tolerance is low,
One instant world, another running slow.
Copyright 2023 Neil Davies
If you liked this poem, please tell your friends and family, or better still, buy a copy of my books.
Thank you,
Stay safe.
Neil.