I’m always amused by how impatient everyone has become. No one wants to wait for anything anymore. Merchants are trying to provide services as quickly as possible, yet people still complain when it takes more than five minutes to get a burger and fries.

In fact, this whole thing began with the concept of “fast food.” We became enthralled with the ability to get an entire meal in less than the 20 minutes or so it would have taken in a restaurant. Now that most people’s lives have become nothing more than an endless to-do list, every retailer imaginable has gotten on the bandwagon, and God forbid if it takes more than 30 seconds to accomplish anything.

You can get your dry cleaning done in less than 24 hours—even though it may have the dirt of 20 years embedded in the material. Your eyeglass prescription can also be filled in 20 minutes. Cholesterol screening takes five minutes—and you can have it done while you’re training your dog not to poop on the rug.

You can have your thighs reshaped during lunch, and your breasts lifted while you’re having dinner. If that’s not to your liking, you can have a mini-tuck at your local gas station while you’re filling your tank and buying groceries for dinner.

You can do psychotherapy while driving to work—you merely pick up your therapist and take him with you. They pick your brain while you pick on the other drivers who aren’t going fast enough to suit your accelerated mind.

Television sets now come with screens within screens so we can watch two shows at once. We spend our lives clicking away, erasing voice mails and e-mails faster than the eye can see. Who cares if we miss something? We don’t want to waste any time; we’re much too important!

We have to hurry up and get rid of all this mundane stuff so we can get on with the important stuff. Like what? The reality is, of course, that whatever we do at any given moment is, in fact, our life! We will not get do-overs. There is no repeat performance.

We’re all becoming so invested in this hurry-up mentality. But the bottom line is: Not everyone is a paramedic. Unless you’ve got someone in cardiac arrest in the back seat of your car…slow down when you come to a tollbooth.

Then take a deep breath and pay for the person behind you. It could extend your life.