Slow down now blog

According to an article on Reuters, women find well-mannered men more attractive. There is a new guide to chivalry for men from Debrett’s, the British arbiter of taste.

Speed leads to impatience and rudeness. I want a more civilized world, a world in which manners, consideration for others, and politeness count.

I admit that this SLOW DOWN NOW thing is an ideal. I found myself in the morally reprehensible state of multi-tasking the other day. Sometimes life gets the better of you. But at least I know to be slow.

A slow lifestyle is more polite. Do you rush to go through a door first, or slow down, and take time to stand aside and let someone else go through? Do you let other cars in front of you when driving? When I do this, I often get a friendly wave.

What may be sexy about slow is that it makes time to be considerate of others.

Trying to do too much is the culprit. If I’m thinking of things I must do, I’m not even present. Impatience adds to the sum of minor frustrations that builds up into full-blown grumpiness. The good news is slowing down helps nip grumpiness in the bud.

Look around. You can see the furrowed brow everywhere.

If we are going to treat each other better, we need to slow down. After all, the slow movement is about being more considerate and civilized. Slow down and be more attractive. It seems like a sound idea, but it’s easier said than done.

Don’t you think so?

Tags: Talk Back by Christopher
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When you are four years old it’s hard not to wriggle and squirm. It’s hard not to have your wishes instantly gratified. Learning to wait is accompanied by wailing, gnashing of teeth and the beating of one’s breast.

But in time a good many of us can curb our impulses. Like most of us, somewhere or other I learned to wait my turn. Well, most of the time.

I’d been to a Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles and was rather unconscious of my drinking cup after cup of green tea. It was about halfway through the short flight to San Francisco when the tea announced its presence with a special sort of urgency. It was time to find the restroom. I waited patiently for the two garrulous women sitting by me to take a break in their conversation. I had the window seat. My neighbors had much to say to each other. Eventually, I got the message that I was sitting by two champion talkers who were never going to stop.

I touched one on the arm, and motioned I wanted to get up. It was at that moment the seatbelt sign came on, and we were deafened with an announcement telling us to remain seated. The plane bounced. It dipped. It rolled. I felt I was being shaken and not stirred.

By this time, my bladder was not happy. I looked out of the window and saw we were near our destination. Time stood still. Were we going to be up there forever?

When at last we landed, I pushed past other passengers in the aisle and made it to the bathroom. A few people muttered unpleasantly but I felt I was on fire. I made it, but the lesson for me is not to mix green tea, bumpy flights, and loquacious women.

However, I am still honing my waiting skills. I am getting better. Are you?

When I was a teenager living in England, I hitchhiked everywhere. It was the only way I could get around. I hitchhiked to work. My pay didn’t cover the bus fare, and food, and the rent on my small room.

Hitchhiking isn’t so popular these days. I think there are a lot of reasons. But I spent a long time standing by the side of the road in the middle of the night under some street lamp.

Although once I had my first car, my patience subsided. I was guilty of tooting my horn at drivers who sat at green lights. I was guilty of overtaking other vehicles when I thought they were going too slow. But even when driving my first car (Morris Minor 1000), I did notice how all the other cars would pass me by. I liked the slow lane.

Tags: Talk Back by Christopher
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