by Ray Jason
It was a genuine “laugh until you
cry” moment. Two of my absolute favorite
people and their son were sitting across from me in a plush Palo Alto
restaurant. Five minutes into our meal I
looked across at them and was astounded.
Spontaneously, but quietly, I leaned towards them and said, “Good god, you eat like refugees!”
They laughed heartily and acknowledged that their lives are so dominated
by the need to constantly hurry, that they barely notice how revved up they
are.
This was my first contact with the
phenomenon that I call “The Invisible Frenzy.”
I was a few days into a month long visit to San Francisco to enjoy the
company of my wonderful friends there.
But I was already frazzled by the insane velocity with which they
conduct their day to day activities. Was
it so unsettling because I had been transformed by the slo-mo pace of my life
in the Archipelago of Bliss, or had the speed of urban living accelerated that
much in the seven years since my last visit?
Probably, it was a combination of both factors.