The story is often told that Tom Monaghan, the Founder of Domino’s Pizza, once quipped, “We don’t sell pizza. We sell delivery. We offer time to families who are looking for it.”
To be fair, I can find only anecdotal evidence supporting that assertion. However, given the fact that Domino’s Pizza famously worked to shave seconds off its delivery times, the spirit of the quote probably rings true.
Domino’s Pizza, founded in 1960, became perfectly poised to sell a product to the American consumer they were willing to buy: convenience. With the sudden increase of dual-income families, people became more and more willing to pay for the easy dinner solution of a 30-minute pizza delivery. Indeed, within the first 15 years of franchising, the Domino’s Pizza chain had opened over 200 stores nationwide.
Of course, as the speed of our lives has continued to increase, so has the appeal of convenience.
Today, we can purchase household goods from any room in our home with the press of a button, receive shopping deliveries within 30 minutes, and pay for goods with just a tap on our watch.
From food and coffee to auto-care and healthcare, convenience is becoming increasingly, well, convenient. Convenience is no longer merely appreciated among the average consumer, it is demanded in almost every corner of our economy.
But at what expense have we pursued convenience? Consider some of these hidden costs:
Money. At the grocery store, the drive-thru, or the coffee counter, we pay a premium for convenience. In some cases, it costs just a little, but in other cases, convenience can be quite expensive. But convenience costs us in more places than the pocketbook.
Health. Not always, but often times, the purchase of convenience negatively impacts our health. Prepackaged foods are among the fastest-growing segments in grocery sales, with sales growing more than 60 percent in the past year. Unfortunately, many of these meals contain preservatives and contain as much as 57 percent of the recommended daily allowance for salt.
Quality. There are times, of course, when purchases made out of convenience result in a higher quality good or service. But this is not always the case. Starbuck’s coffee may be as good an example as any. Even among those who frequent Starbuck’s regularly, very few would argue they could not make better coffee at home. But what Starbuck’s does offer is convenience (and social status, but that’s for another conversation).
The Environment. From home electronics and kitchen appliances to pre-packaged foods and single-serve coffee pods, our quest for convenience has resulted in increased energy use in packaging and transportation and preparation. It has also resulted in increased waste at an almost alarming rate.
Intentionality. Many times, our mindless pursuit and consumption of all-things convenient robs us of opportunities for mindfulness and intentionality. For example, when I used to load the dishwasher merely out of convenience sake, I missed the opportunity for mindfulness in doing the dishes.
Perseverance. Often times, the greatest lessons we learn in life are born from inconvenience (or pain and suffering). In fact, numerous scientific studies have proven the same thing. But among a society where convenience and comfort are pursued above everything else, the opportunity to develop perseverance becomes less and less frequent.
Overconsumption. One of the reasons for the high levels of consumption in our society today is that goods have become increasingly cheaper to produce and purchase. But another reason for the high level of consumerism in our world is the ease of availability for these same items. When shopping becomes convenient, so does consumption. And with strip malls, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants on the corner of every major thoroughfare (not to mention, the availability of online shopping), we are constantly presented with convenient opportunities to buy more than we need.
I should be very clear on this: There are times when convenience is absolutely worth the price. One might even argue our entire system based on the division of labor was born out of convenience—it is easier for me to pay somebody to grow the food and sew the clothing and build the shelter than for me to do it all by myself.
However, if your lifestyle is being compromised in any of the areas above (i.e. finances, health, intentionality, or overconsumption), you might want to reevaluate what purchases you are making purely for the sake of convenience. Because maybe the cost has become too great.
Another way of saying this is we have ‘outsourced’ practically everything we could do on our own (grow and cook food, do dishes, do driving, go shopping in person, visit friends/relatives, etc etc) to corporate entities to ‘save time’.
Long term costs – indirect – of mindless pursuit of inconvenience (the outsourcing of our physical and mental labor) are:
1. Consolidation of corporate entities that drive out small businesses that are not able to deliver on time (e.g. brick and mortar book stores, cinemas, etc);
2. Rising employment (lots of the convenience we demand are increasingly being be delivered by AI-enabled or automated mechanisms);
3. Loss of privacy/personal data;
4. Rising inequality;
5. Loss of control over our lives – reduced to just earning and buying/consuming (not producing);
Where/when will this madness ever end?
I enjoy washing dishes with intentionality. I can only do it when time allows. When done via soaped-water-soaking, rinsing, drying method it saves, it brings these benefits:
a) ecological/financial – saves on water, gas, electric bills
b) therapeutic – if done at the right time or
c) thinking time – helps recapture what’s next on the to-do list
d) social – excuse to stay longer in the kitchen while chatting
e) intimate – one person cleans, the other one dries, great chats, plus, team spirit
f) continuity – tunes me up to keep the rest of the kitchen clean
g) gratifying – even when ephemeral, it gives an easy sense of completion
In all sincerity, I extract all these benefits since I have the option of a dishwasher, which I appreciate since it’s my 1st one in the last 3 households. Back in Manhattan, it was not a default feature in all apt$.
Joshua, I love your blog, found out about it via Facebook, here and there I repost to my Google+ http://bit.ly/Technoir or twitt links @TechGuerrero
Reader insight: I am not sure that I’ll need the email reminder since I actively pay attn to your Facebook reminders. I’m trying to minimize my email subscriptions. Even when I actively filter to folders, my inbox is a bit saturated with quality and quantity, though social media is my preferred attn. engagement.
The other cost I did not see mentioned was the cost to all of the billions of land animals alone who’s suffer horrible lives and deaths. Simplifying one’s life by adopting a plant based diet brings about a piece of mind and health I had not known before.
Animal suffering is the reason I have become vegan. I can’t justify contributing to the horrible suffering animals endure every day of their lives and death. They deserve to live a normal happy healthy life and to be treated with care, compassion, love and respect. We can learn a lot from animals about love and joy and living mindfully. I am so deeply sorry that I didn’t become a vegan when I was much younger. I agree that animals pay for our convenience.
Thank you Brenda. Vegan for life 🌱
Convenience definitely has a place, however the pervasiveness of convenience items (and their downsides) is symptomatic of the busy, busy, busy, more, more, more lifestyle that is the mainstream. If you are too ‘busy’ to cook a meal or do your dishes every single day, I feel you are doing too much and actually missing out on life.
I agree. Yes, there are times when my whole day is inundated with things. However, how I choose to be on most of my days is up to me.
Hurrah, that’s what I was looking for, what a data!
existing here at this weblog, thanks admin of this site.