Every morning, one of the first things I do is flip on the TV so I can watch the news -- my daily dose of "How Crazy Has the World Gone?". Several weeks back, I was greeted with a story about a woman who had been arrested for beating up another woman who tried to go through the express lane at the grocery store with too many items in her cart. So that's how crazy the world has gone.

Now I don't know either of these women, and I wasn't there when the alleged events transpired, but I have a theory as to their cause. Patience. We are sorely lacking in it.

In this fast-food-eating-teleconferencing-Web-surfing-sitcom-watching-cell-phone-gabbing-instant-access society of ours, I often wonder if anyone is capable of appreciating the calmer side of life. We wait for no one and nothing. We focus on ourselves and fulfilling our own needs as quickly as is technologically possible. If things don't move faster than the speed of light, we become irrationally irritated.

I include myself in this group. While I find that I can be very patient with my students, friends and even family (on occasion), there are many little things that drive me insane.

The last straw is usually something insignificant and even laughable.

It's a vicious cycle. As our capabilities increase, we expect that our productivity will also. The busier we perceive ourselves to be, the busier we think everyone else should be. The less we are willing to wait and appreciate.

Inevitably, we find ourselves in an unmitigated rush about everything-- and not quite sure how it happened. We suffer a lack of patience with ourselves and with others. Once patience is gone, empathy and tolerance quickly follow. Instead we are hurried, irritable, and ready to lash out at whatever that gets in the way.

For example, people say that when they see me walking across campus I am usually very focused. The phrase "on a mission" comes up frequently. That's exactly what it is. I know where I'm headed and why. I also tend to move quickly. Which means I get annoyed with people who don't. These "Sunday walkers" drive me up a wall. I find myself thinking, "Walk like you have a destination, people! I have somewhere to be!" This is just walking, for crying out loud. It's a good thing I don't drive. I would be a poster child for road rage.

Other things that frustrate me are long lines at the post office (if you've ever been to the one on Fraser Street, you know what I mean), Campus Loops that are running late, being put on hold, the fact that my printer is slower than the second coming, having to wait for a treadmill at the gym and any assortment of other events that throw me off of my pre-determined schedule.

These are events that are beyond my control. However, rather than remaining completely calm about it, I find that it is very easy to get annoyed with "them"--the undefined perceived others who are screwing up my system. In order to combat this irritation, I find myself standing in lines and muttering to myself, "Patience is a virtue." All I need now is blue hair and a big floral handbag, and I will be that lady. I know you know the one I'm talking about.

Seriously, though, that woman in the grocery store probably just snapped. I'm not excusing her behavior. I am simply saying that we tear through so much of life that it is easy to get bent when someone else impedes our rush toward . . . well, whatever it is we are rushing toward.

Rather than trying to understand why someone feels a need to take too many items into the express lane--or, on the flip, why people might get ticked if we take advantage of the express lane when we have too many items, we just barrel through with our own agendas.

I know how busy you are. There's a lot on your plate. I know you feel compelled to move quickly. However, I would be remiss if I didn't advise you (and myself, for that matter) to slow down just a bit. Once patience, empathy, and tolerance leave you, crash and burn is inevitable.

As the great philosopher, Ferris Bueller, once said, "Life moves fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you just might miss it." Patience, after all, is a virtue.