Satisfaction | Mark’s Remarks

Isn’t it funny how we are never satisfied? We are such selfish, unfulfilled creatures at times, aren’t we?

When I was a kid, we had a few television channels. If you weren’t home on a particular night, you missed your favorite show. Re-runs were the only chance to see them again.

Now, we complain if something is wrong with the DVR or if a certain season of our show isn’t on Netflix. We complain if our latest, biggest and best technological device can’t get Wi-Fi access so we can watch our favorite show on the deserted island we are vacationing on.

When I was a kid, we had dial telephones. Push buttons were fancier things we saw on television. You had to wait for the dial to come back around, or the call didn’t go through. If the person wasn’t at home, you didn’t get to talk to them.

Now we complain if our phones are slow in connecting. We fuss if we don’t have coverage in some areas.

There are all kinds of modern-day convenience we complain about. Our toaster isn’t toasting the bread the correct way. What if we had to toast it in the oven or over a fire?

The car’s remote start-up button is faulty. What if we had to put our coat, hat and gloves on, wade out into the snow or rain, start up the car the old fashioned way and so on?

The ice dispenser is broken. The water filter isn’t working. My iPad won’t stream songs very fast.

I watched a hilarious comedian talking about some of these same topics the other day on TV.

He talked about a person griping because he had to wait 40 minutes for his flight to take off at the airport.

The comedian asked him what happened next. After the wait, did he fly through the sky in a comfortable chair and arrive at a destination that would have taken days and days of traveling if he were not hurtling through the sky in a huge plane?

After your phone connects, can you call someone in China? Indeed, can you call anyone in the world if you want? And furthermore, can you be anywhere and talk on that phone? Are you forced to stay within the length of the telephone cord anymore?

After the microwave is fixed, do you ever think how long it would have taken you to heat up your dinner over an open fire?

When the water dispenser is fixed or the ice machine is working, do you ever count your blessings that you no longer must draw water from a well or go to the ice house and chip off a piece of ice?

I think a few time machine trips, if available, would be good for all of us in this day and age.


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Mark Tullis

Mark is a 25-year veteran teacher teaching in Columbia. Originally from Fairfield, Mark is married with four children. He enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with his family, and has been involved in various aspects of professional and community theater for many years and enjoys appearing in local productions. Mark has also written a "slice of life" style column for the Republic-Times since 2007.
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