Quick Fix Nation

We’re a quick fix nation. Fast food. Fast delivery. Fast service. We expect results with little efforts like... yesterday.

On television, the hucksters try to sell us good physical health. “For minutes a day, this elliptical will get you to shred fat giving you a lean, healthy physique featuring six pack abs!” the announcer screams. If it’s not some caffeinated announcer, it’s Chuck Norris attaching his celebrity to a quick fix health product.

Sorry, but it takes a lot more to get that that ‘model-perfect’ look well beyond some contraption that can be used for ‘minutes a day.’ One needs to only ask actor John Krasinski who sports an uber-toned physique in the new Benghazi, Libya-thriller 13 Hours - on how to look more than in shape. Kraskinski showed up on the CBS-TV late night program Late Show with Stephen Colbert and confessed that he’s been in excellent condition for years while appearing on NBC-TV’s The Office, but for 13 Hours, Krasinski upped the ante on the workout regimen with his trainer. We’re talking serious time with that personal trainer – probably almost 13 hours a day to get in that type of condition!

Not that one cannot get toned on their own without a personal trainer, but the time dedication is enormous – unlike the ads promising those model-perfect bodies as seen in ab-roller and elliptical ads and even infomercials. Still, too many of us fall for the quick fix for that ‘new-you,’ especially at the start of a new year.

That same quick fix idea applies to other things in life like education. Much is promised in these ads for certain educational institutes and there are probably many success stories. Still, there’s a perception peddled that there’s a fast path to attending these institutions either physically or online. I certainly hope that many folks find success through these places, but there’s no way it happens overnight.

We all know that none of this quick-fix chicanery is anything new. It’s been around since the snake oil salesmen ‘back in the day,’ and well before them. The fact is that the quick-fix schemes happen at the speed of light these days with our technology.

How about those age defying tricks depicted all over the Internet and TV? Just spread some cream on at night for a few weeks and you’ll appear younger! Did you know that a bevy of loans are quicker than ever? Then there’s ‘instant credit’ from those loan places. What’s up with them? With all of these ‘offers,’ there’s always a catch. It’s all part of the huckster culture that’s been created with quick fix miracles being promised in the blink of an eye. We always had the snake oil salesmen in this world, but these days, they are available 24/7 via mobile devices, television remotes and computer keyboards.