The BigMac of Communication

The other day in my multicultural education class, we were talking about youth and young adults of the present day and how we could be summed up as "generation now." We demand instant gratification because that's the society we live in. You're hungry? McDonalds has a Big Mac ready in less than a minute (they even have a timer in the drive-thru line). You need to order tickets to a movie, you can do so online faster than it takes many people to brush their teeth. With text messaging, online chatting, etc you can communicate with others at the touch of a button. But you also expect an immediate response. Which can get awkward. Especially when you involve the opposite sex. I'm not gonna lie, I text and usually I too expect a quick answer back. But sometimes I just don't have my phone on me or want to think about what I going to say or am in a place where I don't get service or I just forget. But if I don't respond right away, sometimes the person on the other end reads into it and things get unnecessarily complicated. Or if a friend who is a facebook addict posts something on your wall, only you really aren't on facebook that often so you don't see it for a week or two (although, I guess it also notifies you through your email, so there's no excuse). It reminds me of that YouTube video someone posted "Everything's Amazing and No One's Happy." With all this instantaneousness, I think we (myself included) forget about the principle of patience. And we also create more ways to make things "complicated" in relationships with others. I guess what I'm saying is these new forms of media are double edge swords (as are most things in life, I find) and though they can be useful, there's something about real, face to face conversation that no amount of texting or "poking" can ever replace.