If you ain't first, you're last

Saturday night I was driving in the city.  As a new driver this was a nightmare.  I cant tell you how many times people laid on their horns for me not doing something that would save them a second at most.  For example, in drivers ed I learned that at an intersection, even after the light turns green, I should give about 3 seconds before going to allow any other cars to exit the intersection.  Well, the young lady doing her make up in her audi, in the car behind me didn't like this safety maneuver too much, seeing as she loudly honked her horn and screamed out the window "Move A-hole!" despite the obvious New Driver Bumper sticker on the back of my car.  This really got me thinking about the American desire for speed and constant motion.  There is always a place to be, a person to see or a thing to do for Americans.  I remembered our conversation in class where Mr. O'Connor talked about his European friend who talked "But there must be time to dream, no?"  It's part of American culture to always be moving.  It is looked down upon to simply do nothing and think for an extended period of time.  I wondered why this is, because from class discussions and my foreign experiences, this seems to be an exclusively American phenomenon.  I believe this has to do with competition.  Americans strive to beat out others and get ahead of the game, because that is what you need to do to get what you want.  We believe that every second counts, thus if time is not being used efficiently then it is time wasted.