Once upon a time, and I don't think it was even as long as 50 years ago, you might have to wait weeks for someone to reply to your message. Of course, you could have paid extra for something known as "a long distance phone call" or even "an airmail stamp" and cut the time down, but many could not or would not afford such luxuries.
Now we have become so used to our technologies that we get impatient when it takes the Microwave 10 whole minutes to cook our dinner.
I have an Internet friend who sometimes smothers me with information about where he’s going to be, why, when, and with whom.
Other times, my emails go unanswered for hours, but I always find out later where he was.
I have learned patience about such things from him. So I thank him for that. It has helped me a lot with other things as well.