It is perhaps a shame, but the fact of the matter is that our modern lifestyle choices have meant that many of the little rituals that we would undertake during the day that gave us some comfort and allowed us to pause and take time out from our day are slowly being eliminated. One good example of this is the ceremony of taking afternoon tea. It used to be an almost quintessentially English habit, that each day time was set aside, between lunch and dinner to enjoy a nice cup of tea and perhaps a slice of cake or a scone. Such a ceremony also included proper tea making equipment. A tea pot, some cups and saucers, real tea leaves and as a result the need for tea strainers.
Unfortunately, the teabag, placed directly into a cup with boiling water poured on top, stirred and then deposited into the refuse bin has largely replaced the afternoon tea ceremony. Something that takes only a couple of minutes has meant that the tea ceremony has now largely been abandoned with only the few perservering. One wonders what other unimportant, but also somehow valued activities in our modern lives will be the next to go.
