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I also agree that we, especially Americans, seem not to just want, but expect instant gratification from whatever we put our minds to. Personally, I know that I am very impatient and that I expect immediate results after I start something. For example, I have many knitting projects that are half finished because I grow impatient with them after a few hours, and become frustrated that I have not gotten farther on the project, or even finished it in a few short hours. Also, I think this idea of instant gratification is not something that Americans have always had. We did, after all, have to work very hard and for a very long time to free ourselves from the British and to establish ourselves as a world power. Instant gratification is, in my opinion, a very recent development that one could say basically happened over night. And, I think that the internet is to blame. With the internet, we are able to receive an endless amount of information, all with the click of a button. Extensive research that once took days now takes only a few short hours, and research that took hours now could only take minutes. This is also probably one of the reasons why Americans are so unhappy, and desire to have 'things' to make them happy. We live in a materialistic society, and we have the idea that the more we have in our life (which leads to instant gratification,) the happier we will be. But it is people like Thassa who are able to distinguish between what makes them happy on the surface from what makes them happy in the long run. And while I admire her 'ability' to that, it is, unfortunately, a very difficult thing to first accept, and then do. For example, while looking at pictures of a tropical beach might please you for a minute, it is not as good as the real thing. The image can't make you happy, while the place can, but it is up to you to work for that happy place. If it comes to easy, it is probably not worth it or lasting. Instant gratification, is, after all only instant.