My grandmother would ask me, whenever someone complained. “Sister, did you hear what Brother So-and-So or Sister Much-to-Do complained about?” I would nod. “Sister, there are people who went to sleep all over the world last night, poor and rich and white and black, but they will never wake again. Sister, those who expected to rise did not, their beds became their cooling boards and their blankets became their winding sheets. And those dead folks would give anything, anything at all, for just five minutes of this weather or ten minutes of that [work] that person was grumbling about. So, watch yourself about complaining, Sister. What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. And if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.” – Maya Angelou.
“Between 1305 and the early 1800’s. the House of Taxis ran a form of pony express service all over Europe…. Its couriers clad in blue and silver uniforms, crisscrossed the continent carrying messages between princes and generals, merchants and money lenders.” –Alvin Toffler, The Third Wave We may think we are the first generation consumed by rapid communication but we are not. Throughout our history it has been a priority. Of course, now in the 21 st century we must ask: are we better or worse for it?
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