Keller @ Large: Patience Is A Lost Art

BOSTON (CBS) - As I broomed the snow off my car yesterday morning, I reminded myself to check during my commute for the inevitable – people who simply couldn't take the few minutes necessary to thoroughly remove the stuff from their car windows, and instead risked their lives and the lives of all around them by driving in with severely limited visibility.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

And sure enough, I saw a few, including a couple with an extra twist of foolishness – talking on their cellphones as they drove on slippery roads without being able to see properly.

A triple threat, you might call them.

But being the crank who always complains about this stuff can be a lonely business.

So I was gratified to get to work and find the following e-mail waiting for me, from another frustrated commuter named Joe, who wrote:

"Patience is a virtue, it's been said. But I wonder what's going on in people's heads. I'm getting used to people sitting idle when the light turns green for up to five seconds while they finish a text. When you give them a toot on your horn, they look offended. These arrogant drivers must know the risk they're taking."

And observing the impatience of people who can't defer a text or cellphone call until it's safe and legal to read it, write it or accept it, Joe wonders if they can manage to "take the time at night to give a loved one a goodnight kiss?"

Good question, Joe, probably not, if there are e-mails or phone calls waiting, or the game is at a key moment, or there's some other narcissistic itch they need to scratch.

We all know we live in an instant-gratification culture, where the food has to be fast and the downloads faster, the kid right out of school expects the plum job right away, and if social change doesn't occur overnight, then the entire system must be corrupt.

But are we really as helpless as Joe suggests to instant gratification in our daily lives, even when it ruins the quality of life and endangers lives outright?

I need an answer; but it's OK if you think it over a bit.

I don't need it... right away.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.