Slowmandates

Ever found yourself ordering Dominos pizza online within the last few months?
If you haven’t you’re in for one of the most interactive pizza ordering experiences of your lifetime. Full of digital coupons, cool flash buttons, and the ability to customize your pie with almost limitless possibilities. When you’re all done methodically preparing your meal and adding on all the extra goodies and after typing in all the pesky payment info you’re brought to a page that tracks in real-time the process of your pizza. From when “Rebecca” (our local and obviously overworked Dominos employee) reads your pizza demands to the finished product as it waits patiently for you to take home.

This entire process is built around Domino’s new trademarked motto “You’ve Got 30 Minutes.” Now I’m all for speedy service, and this is pure gold for the munched out college student, but it brings attention to a larger issue I’m beginning to have with the way our society functions. First, according to the site’s “legal stuff” section, “because safety is a priority "You Got 30 Minutes™" is not a guarantee but an estimate. You may get more.” Obviously a pizza company that had retail sales exceeding $5.4 billion worldwide in 2007 is going to have to shield itself from the thousands of potential lawsuits claiming false advertisement, but it seems to read into so much more about how we really view the value of time and quickness. We want the things we desire immediately, with little to no waiting period from the time our demands are made to when they're finally satisfied. This is the principle that governs the fast food industry and big box stores. No longer do you have to spend the time waiting for your food to be prepared and cooked, nor do you have to travel around town visiting this store and that store for a single item.

However much I enjoy a speedy stop at Starbucks or the pizza company that gives me exactly a half an hour to waste before my pie is done I feel as though we’re loosing something necessary to keep ourselves sane in such saturated lifestyles: patience. We’ve become obsessed with infusing quickness in every aspect of our lives, from doing laundry to taking the dog on a walk. Loosing unwanted pounds is now a product of weeks of intense workouts and dieting, rather than a year-long program that ultimately produces more healthy results that last well into years ahead. We don’t have time to read, to write, to even THINK anymore because we’re so caught up in deadlines and due dates, driving ourselves mad with every hour that quickly passes by. Looking upon clocks with envious eyes as if begging it to reverse its hands.

And so I request a recall of this overtly quickened pace of life. Let us appreciate a good book and take an amazing hour-long nap. Let us take walks, not for the egotistical demands of a diet, but rather for the enjoyment of nature and one’s bare surroundings. We need to revitalize the urge to and understand once more the importance of spending 15 minutes with a freshly brewed cup of tea watching trees and thinking.

Lucky, I find myself not alone in promoting the ideals of a slower lifestyle. Bruno Contigiani, an Italian swimming trainer, professor of applied mathematics, science journalist and head of the press agency Telecom Italia, began the The Art of Slow Living (L'Arte del Vivere con Lentezza) that has grown into an organization crusading for a Global Day of Slowness since it’s first conception back in February 2007. To progress such slow-moving principles, Bruno and friends at L’Arte have put together a list of Slowmandments to help guide people towards a life of less speed.

Here are some of my favorite Slowmandments:

1. While queuing at the supermarket or in traffic relax, don’t get angry and try to use your time for planning your day or talking to your neighbor in line.

2. When you enter a café, make a habit of saying hello to the waiter before ordering and after enjoying your coffee remember to say goodbye (this rule works for all stores, offices and in the elevator!)

3. Write your text messages on your cell phone with no symbols or abbreviations.

4. Avoid being so busy and full of work that you don’t have time for yourself and the delight of thinking about nothing.

5. In the evening turn off the television and read the newspaper (or blog).

So next time you find your mind overloaded with too much thoughts and worries, dates and times, consider Bruno’s L'Arte del Vivere con Lentezza and follow the group’s guiding principle: “To stay for all your life a free thinker: this is the meaning of Slow living; to have the courage to stop, ponder and make your own choices before external events and trends sweep you away.”


References:
1) The Art of Slow Living (http://www.fmprodeveloper.it/siti/vivereconlentezza/)
2) Dominos ® (http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=135383&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1120100&highlight=)