Are We There Yet?

We have the complete works of Shakespeare in 97 minutes and a faster version of football in the middle of spring when we should be enjoying baseball and lemonade....Are We Happy Yet?

By Allen Bacon,  The Daily Bosco

As I traveled through America recently by train...I visited eighteen states in that period...I was hit with the idea that we, as Americans, need to slow it down a bit.

We need to not only stop and smell the roses....we need to pick the rose out, pull it, and take the thorns out first.

OK, OK, I know I may be in vacation mode here, but there were several things that hit me while I was traveling.

When I was going through Minnesota I stopped in Minneapolis St. Paul and was reading a Star Tribune article during breakfast about this funny show entitled "The Compleat Wrks of Wllmshkspr (abridged)" where three men in tights attempt to portray all of William Shakespeare's 37 plays in 97 minutes.

This is a very amusing thing I suppose...but whatever happened to the joy of going to each play or reading each story in it's entirety and discussing each?

Then I was in Anchorage at a Sports Bar and they had an Arena Football League game on the big screen and then it hit me. First of all, I love Arena football...it's a cool sport, so don't get me wrong, but first of all we can't wait for football season to come in it's natural time?

Like September. Like when the leaves are turning and there is a nip in the air. Not in the middle of summer. And on top of that they cut the field in half. More scoring...Faster...More Excitement. Faster, faster, faster.

I stood in the middle of Union Station in Chicago during rush hour...or at least it felt like I was standing I was walking at a good pace actually...but everybody was on hyperspeed. We always need to be someplace else. I needed to get to Wrigley Field quickly...but that's beside the point.

And lastly, as I was traveling across America on the train there were several people complaining how slow it was to travel this way. My thought was...if you think this is too slow then why didn't you buy an airline ticket, go through TSA Security Checkpoints and cram your legs up against the seat in front of you while you eat your small allocated bag of peanuts?

That could have easily been arranged.