...it has the greatest potential to breed laziness. But when does it cross over from horribly convenient to lazy? And does it mean laziness for everyone who indulges in a convenience?

I can understand convenience - it means saving time, saving gas, saving money (in some cases). I love convenience. I don't go down to the local video store anymore to rent a movie and risk a late fee. I rent online, it comes in my mailbox, and I don't have to pay a late fee at all.

That is convenient. And efficient. Would you call it lazy?

If I'm looking for something that I could easily pick up at a local store and instead turn to the internet (eBay, or otherwise) for it, and probably pay the same amount for it, then have I crossed the line? Has it turned into lazy as opposed to efficient? After all, I'm not taking the time to put on my shoes, grab my keys, fire up the car, use gas to drive however far it takes, find the item, buy the item and bring the item home again. Wouldn't it be faster to just click-click and it's delivered to you a few days later?

Faster? Yes! Convenient? Certainly. Lazy? That might depend.

There are people out there who have phobias about crowds, accidents, going outside. For them, the advent of shopping on the internet or by phone is perfect! They don't have to deal with their phobias (whatever they may be) and get everything that they could ever want by clicking a mouse - assuming that they're not phobic about technology and such.

But then the phobic individual isn't facing their phobia or trying to get past it - assuming that they've given up on themselves and counseling and think 'Hey! I never have to work on this ever again!' Wouldn't being able to get whatever you need without ever having to leave the house be more detrimental to the phobic individual instead of helpful to them getting past their issues?

Assuming also, that the phobia isn't completely crippling to the individual upon their facing it.

It's perfect for the invalids who cannot leave their homes too, but aren't fully dependent on outside care. They, too, can click or call and have whatever they want delivered to their home. From movies to masking tape, groceries to gardening supplies - it's all out there at the click of a finger or the dialing of a phone.

I certainly wouldn't think that the invalid is lazy - they may have a disability that makes EVERYTHING a two or three hour chore, where for some of us it's a half hour. It's definitely a matter of convenience in those cases. In a lot of cases, it's the invalid who wants to get out of the house, so I can't state that they're likely to become lazy. Sometimes these things are out of our control - you could make the same argument for the phobics, I suppose.

There's the stay at home mom with two small children - shopping from the computer is a godsend when one or the other of the kids isn't feeling well, or needs a nap, or there's scads of housework to be done. But what if your only reason for not going out to the store is simply the fact that you have two small children? Wouldn't that border on the lazy instead of the efficent smart shopper? You're depriving yourself of getting out of the house, and depriving the children of getting out of the house into situations that they are going to have to face in real life. Does it make sense to do all your shopping on eBay or Amazon or your grocery store's website then?

Then there are the folks who could become hermits if they wanted - as I said before, you could have almost everything delivered to your house: movies, magazines and books, food (groceries and already prepared food), cleaning supplies, building supplies, hardware (of the tool kind) and software (of the clothing and bedding kind). You wouldn't ever have to leave your house unless it were absolutely necessary. Or unless you really wanted a burger and fries from Burger King or McDonald's, because last time I checked they don't deliver. But I'm sure you could probably find a service that would go order it for you and deliver it to you if you paid enough money.

You can order almost anything that you can get at a regular store (and some things you can't, simply because they are rare) from eBay. Or Amazon. But whatever happened to going to a store and feeling the texture of things, the weight, the general feel? I rarely buy a pair of embroidery scissors on the 'net unless I've already felt them in real life because that's something I need to know how it fits into my hand. How heavy - or how light - it is can be important. I'll buy it online as opposed to at a regular store perhaps because of a better price. Or because I can get something else from the same place that I don't have to feel (like a chart that I know I want). Fibers - you shouldn't buy those online if you're particular about a hand-dyed that you need dye lot matching on. Unless, of course, they're hand-dyeds that you can only get online.

But I digress from my original line of thinking. I can understand the need for convenience as lives get busier and busier and one's time has a bigger premium attached to it. But when does that convenience cross the line and just morphs into lazy? I know people who love to have their groceries delivered to them because it means that they don't have to fight the crowds at a store, or deal with no parking on a busy weekend when they could better spend the time in their garden or something else worthwhile. But when you only need a carton of milk, and you get frustrated that you have to actually get in the car and go to the store - which could be a simple 5 minute drive away - have you marched over that line?

I can understand the desire to save gas, not deal with huge parking lot snarls, the potential of having to go to 3 different places before you find what you need. I, too, shop online - it's convenient, and sometimes I find a better deal that way. But I still go to the grocery store - I *like* grocery shopping (yes, I'm sick, I know) - and I still go to clothing stores, and hardware stores, and other places that I have to fight crowds and deal with people in a transaction that involves something other than punching my credit card number into a computer screen.

There's lots of good things that have come from shopping online, but I think there's great potential for people to become lax, lazy, you name it because it's such an easy thing to do...

...labeled with the tag 'convenient'.