Caterina: Better More Faster by Caterina, thwarted Latina

You ever notice that no matter how big your upgrade leap may be, after two days on the computer you are once again exhorting it to HURRY UP! What do you think that means? Are we getting more done, faster, and finding it's still not enough?

Several years ago, at a New Year's party in Kuala Lumpur, the hostess' father told us a fishing village story. He talked about the carved wood boats with their exquisitely painted decorations. We all marvelled at the skill involved, and the immense amount of time invested in making the necessary tools for village life; not just to make them durable, but to make them beautiful too. And we thought how funny it was now that fishing boats are motorized, nets are purchased, village roofs are made of lasting corrugated tin, and everyone is zipping around on motorbikes - now that the necessities are quickly and easily obtained, no one has the time to make anything beautiful.

I'm trying to draw a parallel here between this phenomenon and my computer, not just bitching about the finite supply of really nice Malaysian handicraft. Although that is also a lastima. What I'm saying is that it seems like the faster we go the less time we have to spare. Maybe it's some kind of law of kinetic momentum.

Singapore is a great example of this law in action. The Singapore work vaccuum consumes everyone who enters its orbit. Lots of work gets done, fast, by very busy people. But it doesn't seem to help, there's always more to do just up ahead, bubbling into yet another urgent project. After a couple of years working in that environment I noticed an unhealthy addiction developing. If I wasn't desperately juggling several tight deadlines it wasn't worth it. Without the rush of being constantly in a rush I would begin to ask: is that all there is?

Okay here's another example of modern frenzy: how about them bi-coastal commuters that shunt their lives between LA and NYC, that's a lot of flying time just for takin' care of business. Carino and I once entertained the idea of living bi-hemispherical; one household in east Asia, t'other in Canada. We figured, hey, we can always use a gazillion air miles. Since it can be done, why shouldn't we?

And ay yai yai, how 'bout those pregnancy ultrasounds? Or those glucose tests? As soon as we can do something it becomes necessary to do it. Did you know that in Malaysia an affluent pregnant women is given an ultrasound every month of the baby's term? While pregnant in Ontario, I was told I might want to take a test which would show my statistical likelihood of getting gestational diabetes. Meanwhile Quebec-based expectant mamitas can expect their doctors to send them off for diabetes tests automatically, whether they have any symptoms or not.

And seeing as I've been watching too much Olympic games news, I'll just mention that athletic drug screening relates to this too. Note the morphing that drug testing has undergone in the past years. Once they could screen for performance enhancement drugs, they found marijuana and cocaine. Nobody's going to argue that these drugs enhance athletic performance, so it's made into a morality issue instead, which is totally inappropriate (to put it mildly). Certain athletes are now being held to a higher moral standard, while others spend their huge salaries on rehab, and WHY, you may ask? Because of mandatory drug testing technology, seguro.

I know I'm somewhat incoherent, but I'm saying all these things coelesce in a fuzzy way if you think about it. From a simple life that requires 100% of your effort to sustain it, toward ever-increasing advancement, longer life-expectancy, better teeth, healthier pets, more leisure time (more stressed out athletes to help us fill it).... I'm not saying I could give it all up. I certainly couldn't give up my long-suffering computer, but ay yai yai, so many new choices, so many new ways to mess things up.

Hasta la proxima,

Cat.

 

(y muchas gracias a The Harvey Averne Barrio Band for Caterina's theme)

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