The fast and the fastest.

There’s an increasing demand for everything quick and easy. From food to sex to movie titles and even dizzying movie plots, everything ought to transpire as quickly as possible, as if time is a commodity that would suddenly be gone tomorrow or in a few minutes.

Photo by Alexander Pierce Johnson from his Flickr account.

Some people might attribute it to our theoretical impending doom. If Mayans were indeed correct and the world will end in December of 2012, then time might really be more precious than what we have ever imagined. Consider the fact the world would suddenly crash/explode sometime in December; then people would suddenly realize that they don’t have the luxury to do everything that they ever wanted—from a grand vacation to a life less ordinary.

This lifestyle, however, might not be directly attributable to our world at the brink of extinction. Since I have been transported into Manila, I have realized that people have always been rushing, as if constantly slapped by a sense of urgency: to beat deadlines, to make room for more tasks, to accomplish everything. It seems that everything is of importance, no matter how seemingly trivial the situation is. And these bring us into a state of instantaneous (but fleeting) encounters.

In turn, people might have forgotten the basics of everyday niceties. People kiss, do sex, even without determining if it’s even a mutually desired emotion. The amount of love is replaced by lust, tangled into an array of confusion and longing. Even the preparation of food, once considered as an art, is now equated with being fast sans quality or value. Even relationship, hobby, entertainment, and attention span have been reduced to the latest trend, proving that limited or little attention is given to things that once mattered.

It might just be a sign of age, or that the world is coming up with new tricks up its sleeve. We can’t always claim that the things we did when we were kids were so much better compared to the new generation’s. We can’t even rightfully claim, for instance, that jejemons are bastardizing our culture and language. Because, somehow, in a future time/space, people might not even be talking and communication is done through holograms. Thus, the entire debate on language, barrier, and understanding would be moot. Or sex might even be a five minute thing, and done even without body contact.

In the end, the things that we (or, I for that matter) long for are the things that we have grown accustomed to, and have accepted as part of our being. It’s not a matter of principle anymore, but of acceptance. And in the end, we all stand on the same plateau half-remembering the reason for our own existence.