With Visa Patience is a Virtue

Have you seen the not so new Visa commercials? You know, the ones that show the queue at some mall or eatery in harmony. The queue is going smoothly. There is music playing and everyone is happy. Then someone decides to pay with cash. The queue suddenly stops. The music comes to a screeching halt and the world is dark. To the media illiterate the commercial is only depicting that it's easier to use your visa check card purchases. To the media literate this commercials says much more. On the surface the commercial is innocent enough. However look further. The commercial affirms impatience. The once virtuous patience, is losing ground. Does anyone practice patience anymore? Writing a cheque or paying with cash, does not really take any more time than using a cheque card. Why is it, when we see a person in line about to write a cheque a little sigh of impatience, invariably escapes (even if it is in the form of shifting from one leg to another). We live in a society where impatience has become the norm. I have been on the end of someones impatient glare. I initially felt uncomfortable, became nervous and thought about apologising. However, I came to my senses. We have become impatient with people, the people in cars, at the ATM, the elevator, our coumputers. The list is endless. I'm not picking on Visa. I am just pointing out, that in some odd way we have given ourselves permission to be impatient with everything. Including things we have no control.