According to statistics, it is becoming increasingly rare in
many countries for families to eat together. It seems that people no longer
have time to enjoy a meal, let alone buy and prepare the ingredients. Meanwhile, fast food outlets are proliferating.
Further evidence of the effects of the increasing pace of life can be seen on
all sides. Motorists drum their fingers impatiently at stop lights. Tempers flare
in supermarket queues.
The above are all symptoms of a modern epidemic called “hurry
sickness”. The term was coined by a prominent cardiologist, who noticed that
all of his heart disease patients had common behavioural characteristics, the
most obvious being that they were in a chronic rush. Hurry sickness has been an
issue in our culture ever since but the problem is escalating in degree and
intensity, leading to rudeness, short-tempered behaviour and even violence,
alongside a range of physical ills.
