Brother, can you spare me ten seconds?

The 10 Second Rule at Wahoo. The rule at Wahoo, a sort of trendy restaurant among young kids in California is that no one will wait more than ten seconds. Now ten seconds does not seem like a long time “unless” you are waiting. It is well know that our perception of time is psychologically based. The sense of time for us is never fixed nor does time ever seem to flow at the same rate for us. It often depends on what we are doing, when we are doing it or even whom we are doing it with. Waiting for a computer to reboot or waiting for a doctors report can seem to take forever. Waiting in lines at the airport or waiting in line to register our cars or waiting in line at any government office also seems to take forever. The time you spend on vacation or with a new romantic partner will fly by before you even realize it.

But with the fast pace of life today, waiting ten seconds is a long time. Years ago, we might not have thought much of having to wait ten seconds but today the emphasis is on speed and waiting is –for most- the ultimate waste of time. We must be quick today. Productivity and lifestyle all depend on quick. If someone cannot do it quick, we find someone who can. Fast everything is the modern answer to our lives. We have fast restaurants, fast food, instant meals, microwaves, faster and faster computers, sound bites for news and compressed college degrees that you can get in one year and online. Even funerals rarely last more than one hour. Our churches, schools, workplaces and sometimes our families all run on time and by a schedule. If they do not run on time we get impatient and find ways to leave.

Have you ever wondered about a world where ten seconds is a long time? Are we moving so fast that we cannot spare ten seconds for anyone or anything? How do you feel about spending ten seconds doing nothing? Can you spare ten seconds? How often do we drive by someone who needs help because we are in a hurry or because we are late or need to get somewhere for an appointment? When was the last time you spared ten seconds to help someone you did not know? Are you always in a hurry? When could you spare ten seconds? Did you ever want anyone to spare ten seconds for you? What if no one had the time to spare ten seconds for anyone else? Would you want to live in that kind of a world?