• Gratification is pleasure

• Immediate means done at once

• Why do we seek this:

° To avoid delay in important matters personally/professionally. Evolutionary need for food, protection

° A fear of opportunity lost

° Impulsivity. Especially as we age. If not now, when?

° Intellectual curiosity.

° Poverty, desperation

° Boredom. Here’s a new shiny object.

° The alternative of long hard work (I can make money selling cars now, being an engineer would take six years.)

• The trouble is that it is often temporary. (The dog toy breaks.) Other people have the same thing. The novelty wears off.

• Often generates anti-social behavior—breaking into a line, theft.

• In the longer term is unfulfilling, creating more disappointment.

• Undermines all patience even when required: recovering from an illness, waiting for a delayed plane, even waiting at the deli counter.

• Impulse purchase items are placed near the cashier in stores or at the end of aisles.

• Can cause health problems (stress, ulcers) waiting for an acceptance to college, a job offer, a club membership.

• Isn’t a realistic view of life, even when successful. Often depends on factors out of one’s control.

• The key, perhaps: Fine on the minor stuff, a gamble on middle stuff, can be fatal on the major stuff.

• Don’t forget, this is an age when kennels and shelters force potential animal adopters to qualify!