Hour Glass Syndrome

Hourglass Syndrome



There is a new medical condition now known as Hourglass Syndrome. What is this? It is a syndrome that you receive waiting on your computer to do whatever tasks you has told it to do. Yes waiting for a computer to load your documents or web sites can get a little frustrating, but do we really need to create a name for it? Even worse, do we need to label it a syndrome?

According to Intel, we wait approximately 13 minutes per day using our computer. This relates to 3 days per year totally waiting. How relevant in our lives is this? Do we wait longer than that in the line of Wal-Mart buying groceries? Should we then have a label of line syndrome. There are so many labels out there all ready, should we create another. If so we could have hold music syndrome, and phone automation syndrome, and the press 1 for English syndrome. Labels do not do Americans any good.

Most Americans seem to equate the word syndrome with a reason to act out. Television most recently expresses this with a commercial by GameFly. This is a company that rents video games similar to the company NetFlix. The commercial shows teenagers and adults acting crazy and throwing their televisions out windows due to buying a bad video game. Society teaches us to act as spoiled brats if we don’t get our way. The word syndrome seems to help Americans with an excuse to act out in this way.

Our society does not show the ability to function as true adults. Everyone seems to want to have a reason to misbehave when we do not get things exactly the way we want. This has been proven with road rage. People have now used this excuse to get a lighter sentence for running someone off the road and injuring them deliberately. They feel justified in doing this, because someone made a mistake or deliberately cut them off on the freeway. The judge and jury then justifies this to the world with a lighter sentence after there is a label for the condition. People have been driving for years, but now we cannot handle it, when a mistake is made, and want to blame someone else for our inexcusable behavior. How is this right?

We need to own up to our own responsibility. We are in control of our bodies and what we do with them right? Then, why is it we want to blame something else when we behave badly, but take full responsibility when something goes right? Shouldn’t there be a perfection syndrome? It seems our society does not want to act accordingly, unless everything is perfect.

Another syndrome is not what we need. Now that Intel has released this information what will be the next step? Will Intel replace my laptop when I slam it down as their web site is not loading fast enough so I can view the newest commercial on hourglass syndrome? The way our society has run a course this is a possibility. Intel admits that the syndrome is their fault due to slow processor speeds. They have even stated a solution would be one of their faster computers. Six months to a year from now, those computers will be as slow as the one I am typing on currently. With this being the case, I should be able to sue Intel for a replacement computer as the newest one currently will no longer solve this syndrome.

People seem to have fun creating these new conditions, not thinking of the ramifications that will later come. Our society is fickle, and nothing is being done about people taking responsibility for their own actions. There are plenty of true medical conditions that we suffer from, and yet we want to create these other syndromes. Are we breeding a bunch of hypochondriacs? If I suffer from this condition can I get a special pill to slow me down so I do not care about the wait?

Since this condition has been created by Intel, it has already spread to the radio stations. There are commercials on YouTube, and other internet video sites. In a few days the late night talk shows will be poking fun of the new condition and ramble similar to what I have done in this paper, but funnier. Then it will make the news, and finally CNN. If it is taken lightly nothing will ever come of it and it will be ignored. If not psychiatrists will be handling another useless condition that Americans have thought up as something fun, and someone has taken seriously.