slowing down through technology

[lauradi7dw]

In modern high-stress America, we are often admonished to slow down and live in the moment. I've decided that modern technology is conspiring to make life slow down. My laptop is willing to shut down, but if I try to get it to just sleep for a while, it usually refuses and I ultimately have to take out its battery to get it to start over. This takes longer than just shutting it down every time and starting over from scratch. The Charlie cards slow down the time it takes to get to or from a subway platform because the sliding doors are slower than the turnstiles were. It's even slower on the bus - putting the card into the slot and waiting for it to eject takes at least 4 times longer than sliding the card through the old readers (yes, I've timed it) and change has to be put into the slot one coin at a time instead of just dumping it in the old way (which I admit sometimes clogged the machine). The 3 PM 62 bus left late today at least partly of all that plus the fact that a woman's crumpled dollar bill wouldn't go into the slot, and the driver had her try it several times (total attempt time, one minute) before letting her ride for free. How is this an improvement in any way? My car (less than two weeks back from the shop) now has a check engine light on, so I am walking/biking/taking the bus a bit more. Slower again, and better for the environment. Just waiting to see what machine will get with the program next.