Editor’s note: so, earlier this week I sent Kurt this infographic about impatience and asked him to comment on the two ideas below; hilariously, he wrote about 300 words for the first portion and left the second section completely blank (I did some editing to make it work). This kind of poetic irony is a beautiful thing. Enjoy!
Kurt and John identify with the infographic below for these hilarious/semi-problematic reasons:
Kurt Heinrich on waiting in line: The 2010 Olympics were lauded by many as a fantastic opportunity to take in dozens of unique exhibits, attractions, bands and other performances. But with Sochi House and the Dutch/Heineken pavilion came ridiculously long lines approaching Disneyland lengths. Each day, as I walked to work, the line to take one 15 second zip-line across Robson plaza grew by about 25 minutes until by the end of the Olympics, it took a 6 hour wait for the 15 second experience. Really, you have nothing better to do than cue-up for half-a-day? And this was only the most egregious example.
Across Metro Vancouver, long snaking lines sprung up like weeds; chock full of tourists, locals and angry looking Russian athletes. After hours of waiting (often in the pouring rain) line-goers were frequently rewarded by a half-baked hyper-commercialized “exhibit” crammed with bright oil company billboards or (in at least one case) an absolutely empty room. So much for the myths of wonder associated with Expo and propagated by my parents since birth.
John Horn on doing six things at once: it’s not a big problem, but it’s not not a big problem, either. When I’m working – at work or at home on this amazing publication – I like to be watching/looking at things on at least three screens. Within these three screens are a variety of open windows and tabs that yield exciting opportunities, ideas and projects on which I work and by which I am, at times, distracted (curse you, mobile-Scrabble!). Oh, and while all the spreadsheets and cloud-based-docs and mind-maps and timelines and mobile games are benefiting from my spectacular ability to multitask, I listen to music or podcasts or have some sort of sport or movie I’ve already watched playing in the background. Basically, if something doesn’t load quickly I flash to another screen and lose interest or – hey, do you guys wanna go ride bikes?!
This affects Kurt and john’s interactions with communities because…
Kurt: The longer I wait in lines, the more disappointed I am in the end result and the whole process. Maybe this means that I don’t have an patience. Or maybe it means I do not possess the psychological means to view a long wait as a worthwhile experience in itself (packed with good conversation with fellow line-goes) like Editor-in-Chief, John Horn. While my attention span is likely not as bad as that illustrated below by the infographic, when it comes to lines, I’m not to far off.
John: Multitasking doesn’t work and instead of doing one good thing really, really well I often do six things well or, on bad days, with unfortunate mediocrity. I don’t believe in mediocre community-making, so my habits need to change!
Created by: OnlineGraduatePrograms.com
So, how do you identify with this infographic? And what does this say about our community?
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Masthead photo courtesy of Ed Yourdon’s photostream on Flickr
Louis C.K. had a really good take on this very issue in his interview with Conan O’Brien:
And those Russian athletes don’t just look angry, they actually are!
Thanks, Anton.
That clip from Mr. C.K. is one of my favourites.
We appreciate the comment.