Sometimes I think technological advances designed to bring people closer together, and make life easier, actually have the opposite effect.  Have you ever been in an airport and watched people just stand on the moving walkways?  They were designed to make everyone move more quickly through the airport, and make the overall flow more efficient.  That is what they were designed to do, but what really happens?  People just stand on them and actually go slower than if they just walked.   I usually just walk along side at a faster pace because I lose patience with the idleness of my fellow travelers.

Same with texting and social media.  The very term “Social” media is actually an oxymoron.  You sit at home “liking” your friend’s status and you feel like you made a connection with them….  But did you? A deeper, richer relationship requires eyeball to eyeball conversation.  So now you don’t have your weekly coffee with your friend because you’re all up to date with each other through social media.  So, in fact, you have become less social with your friends. You used to pick up the phone and talk to someone…Now a text will suffice. 

I’m not saying technology is bad.  I embrace it wholeheartedly.  I just think occasionally we should stop and think if the convenience we experience is actually taking us further from the original goal. I’m sure someone else had the same arguments when the calculator was invented–“Kids won’t know how to add”, was probably uttered by countless people over fifty.

I just think everyone should know the basics…How to write a real letter and mail it…How to have an intelligent conversation with someone without the use of text…How to walk up the stairs without the use of an escalator.  Maybe someday we will all just be giant heads floating around… But until that time,  for all that is holy, when you are using the moving walkways at the airport bend your knees a little!  Or get out of my way–I have a plane to catch!