According to the Merriam-Webster: the collegiate definition of efficiency is an effective operation as measured by a comparison of production with cost (as in time, energy and money) or the ratio of the useful energy delivered by a dynamic system to the energy supplied to it.
I am probably the least efficient person I know when it comes to certain things, yet I demand efficiency in others on those same things. In many ways we are spoiled by expectations, certain logic. and things that are quite ironic.
For example, last year I wanted to obtain a Peachpass for my new car so I could use the express lanes on an upcoming vacation in Florida. The act of obtaining an object that could make a more effective commute (time wise) – to be more efficient – is housed in one of the buildings of a place that is jokingly mocked as one of the slowest operations in government – the department of motor vehicles.
To be honest, I have to give the PeachPass Administration credit, at least they kept their operation in a separate area of the building and in person service was immediate. However, their computers were down at the time I made it there. They were kind enough to call when it came back up, which was just right at the time I was arriving back at my home – so I made another half hour trip to the DMV office- only to find out their computer went down again. “Just my luck.” I thought as I left again, only to be hunted down by a worker while I was still in the parking lot to inform me the computer system was back in operation.
All that being said, had I been a little more proactive and not waited until the last minute to order a transponder in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to put up with that hassle. Ultimately all turned out well in the end, despite my lack of effort. I would not call that particular effort to being more efficient an example of being efficient.
Any time I am in a rush to get something done, the example above is a good demonstration on how things usually turn out. It takes double the time, effort and money to get the task done.
What happens though, when we allow ourselves to budget the time to accomplish a task ahead of time? We can figure out all what we want, how we want it and when we need it by and what we need to do to get it done, efficiently, ahead of time. One would think that is what we all do, right?
Wrong. Why do we end up spending a ton of time in a drive-thru line – because the dip-wad in the yellow Mercury ordered half the menu and took twenty minutes to make up their mind on the order? And ended up behind them because we were being polite and had to yield to them in traffic, and we had to yield to them because we got stopped at a red light because the cement truck ahead of us is slow, and we got put there because, ultimately, we decided to hit the snooze button.
Why in the world would I even want to complain about any of that. I should be grateful for being able to wake up, own a car, drive said car, have a nice restaurant to go to, get there safely and return safely, all while being fuming mad while doing so?
This all happens when my expectation of others is not met. When others don’t operate my way, in my view in a way that makes sense, that becomes upsetting. I know I’ve done the same to others. I’m in a different mind set about the topic. I’m in no rush or just allowing myself a lazy, relaxing, carefree moment. Should I do that more often?
My personal philosophy is not to become lazy and carefree at the expense of others as much as possible. The hard part is – I can never expect that of anyone else. And honestly, some people may be operating as efficiently as they can, and yet still be slower than I would like. We have to get over that and let it be.
I also realize that in some cases, others cannot get over it so easily, other people may escalate a situation into a conflict, become angry, upset, explode into rage and turn a situation violent. I would hope that is not the case, however we live in a world where people do behave that way. They may be misunderstood and misunderstand the situation. And when someone intoxicates themselves, well we can only go downhill from there.
But honestly, quit being a dumb ass and get out of my way so I can get back home in time to catch the start of the ball game.