微波爐真是個好東西，半分鐘就能熱好一杯牛奶，一分鐘飯菜就能熱氣騰騰了。有微波爐相伴的我們似乎在生活的其他方面也開始要求速度了，而等待的耐心卻慢慢不見了蹤影。
Microwave ovens have been heating leftovers and popping popcorn for a generation, a daily bit of wizardry that makes waiting for anything seem obsolete. And the microwave mentalityhas spread far beyond the kitchen.
一直以來，微波爐都幫我們加熱剩飯菜、做爆米花，這個能讓日常生活變簡單的神奇功能同時也讓人們耐心漸失。這種“微波爐思維”也衝出廚房，影響到我們生活的各方面。
People want their popcorn in 3-1/2 minutes, dinner ready in 4 minutes, fast food, buy it now and we will pay for it later. Give me the big house on the lake, the gas guzzling hummer and put it all on credit. People with the microwave mentality tend to have the attitude that if something can't be done in 5 minutes or less, it's not worth doing.
人們希望爆米花能在3分半鐘之內做好，晚餐能在4分鐘內上桌，點的快餐能先送貨後付錢。湖邊的大房子和悍馬車貸款就能馬上到手。有“微波爐思維”的人們都覺得如果某件事不能在5分鐘之內搞定，那麼這件事就不值得動手去做。