One of my boyhood dreams was to be a submariner.
If the Canadian Navy had actually had a fleet of operating
boats, perhaps life would have been very different.
The Canadian fleet of the early 60’s consisted of 4 four old
Oberon class diesel submarines. These operated on a marginal basis at best. We
did not have the fancy fleet like the Americans.
I would read in National Geographic of their great Navy
fleets and this new submarine that was atomic powered, the Nautilus. This was
the future. Imagine a boat that could cruise under the polar cap and around the
world with no need for refuelling! This was the stuff of fiction, not reality
in Canada.
What was this compulsion towards submarines? I have asked
myself that many times. Self diagnosing all my strange psychosis trying to
figure out if I had some hidden meaning in wanting to be in a boat (they are
called boats not ships) that was built for stealth and secrecy and black ops.
Being a high “C” style that fit my personality style, after all, we “C”s like
our privacy and our secrets.
Nope, I just thought it would be a neat career.
A few years ago we were speaking in New York and driving
back we tripped across the US submarine service museum at Groton Conn. Imagine
the thrill when we found the Nautilus sitting there at permanent dock with FREE
tours!
I was like that kid
of 10 complete with goose bumps itching to get on board and discover her
secrets. It was fabulous. I had waited over 40 years to realize that dream.
However I had still not actually dived in a sub. Then we came
to Aruba... This year I had the opportunity to board a tourist submarine and
dive to 130 feet! Wow, what a thrill! Imagine getting off a cruise ship to get
on a boat that is designed to sink!
Barb did not come...
So what is the message of all this?
Delayed gratification is
a term we don’t hear very often in today’s world. Everyone wants everything
now. There is no waiting in this instant society. Instant breakfast, instant on
for my iPad, instant coffee, everything is no more waiting.
If we think back to previous generations they were used to
this idea of delayed gratification. There’s was a world of economic uncertainty
and no credit. They had to wait for the toys and better things in life. When
was the last time you heard of someone sleeping on the idea of a purchase
before saying yes?
Perhaps this is the time to re-instate that theory. Imagine
how different the world may be. No more impulse shopping. No more closets full
of wasted clothes. No more beta machines because they were out first.
Come on,
I know I was not the only one who fell for that!
The old saying “good things come to those who wait” might
still have life in it...
