So I was walking on this side road, through the woods today and a friend passed by with his car and offered me a ride. I really wanted to walk through the woods, not just because it was a nice day and I love nature, but also because it was a long walk and I wanted to get that sense of accomplishment after doing something hard. But I was so used to saying yes to rides, that immediately I started getting in the car and then halfway I realized I don't want to do this, so I had to awkwardly decline his nice gesture. And then I started thinking, how often do we deny ourselves that sense of accomplishment? How often do we just choose the easy way? And what compels us to do so? And I just thought of an example which has caught me off guard because I never owned one. The "Easy-Bake oven" can answer some of these questions.
In total you can make a cake in around 10 - 15 minutes. And I bet there is some satisfaction after seeing the little cake pop out the back end of your toy oven, but nothing compared to making a dark chocolate raspberry filling mousse cake from scratch right? And yet we seek things, like the Easy-Bake oven to save us the trouble, to save us the time... We type now instead of write. We drive instead of walking. We read internet articles instead of the newspaper. We use machines instead of tools, ex: vacuum vs broom, chainsaw vs saw, etc. We send text messages instead of letters. And on and on. But aren't we losing our orthography skills? Aren't we less likely to meet people by driving everywhere? Aren't we getting lazier? Aren't sound bites and headlines more sought than researching and investigating? Are we becoming less personal and more informal? Yet we all have this hidden respect for things done the "old way", the hard way. Still though, the majority of us wouldn't think twice about going back to the old days of hard labor. We would consider that a waste of time and then show through the same examples that I just mentioned above how much time we've gained through those technological advances. We focus a lot on the time gained.
I guess my question is have we considered what we are losing by becoming a culture of quick and easy?
I had a an Easy Bake oven when I was 9 and loved it! Mom wouldn't let me use the "real" oven but I really wanted to bake so voila - the Easy Bake oven - moms could safely let their children bake with! Things can always be seen from many different perspectives..very few things are truly black or white..sometimes easy is best especially since that easy bake oven probably taught me to love baking, which by the way you have benefited from over the years!! love mom
ReplyDeleteyes, I agree. things are not black and white. I'm happy you enjoyed cooking and still do. I just think quick and easy style things might have an influence on how we develop as people. Like our interactions with others... do we try for quick and easy interactions or do we try for depth which can be difficult and uneasy at times. The things around us are moving away from that depth and understanding we so desperately crave as people. How can we begin to explore depth in this age of quickness?
Delete