Entry #2: Life in the Fast Lane

"Hey. Hi. How are you? Good. Okay. Bye."

What happened to the good ol' days where we used to have nothing better to do than chat with the people we ran into on a daily basis? It always seems that we are being burdened when someone makes the friendly gesture of asking how we are. When did life get so busy that we couldn't stop for a moment to share that friendly moment?

I remember that while I was growing up, I would send letters to my friends and wait almost a week before getting a response. That's how we used to communicate. Now, we have house phones, and cell phones. We have computers within our houses, and computers within our cell phones. We are constantly connected with  those around us, for better or for worse. With this mass connection, we have actually created a mass disconnection. We have lost our patience, and have become dependent on receiving a response here and now. We don't have to wait. We are in the time of the here and now.

How has this changed us? How has being able to more easily communicate made our communication so much less valuable?

With the ease of communication, it no longer has significance that we can respond to a person; the effort is minimal at best. Writing a letter took time. Writing a letter took patience. Writing a letter took conversational skills. Writing a letter showed that we really cared. A text is nothing. A text is not personal. A text is not time consuming. We are no longer charged per message, and our messages lack importance. The connections that we once worked to form with people are conveniently continued through an occasional "Hey." Isn't this wrong?

I miss having really conversations with people. I miss real connections and knowing that people cared enough to put forth an effort. How about you? Have you noticed that as we have advanced in technology we have had a steady decline in communicational skills? What can we do about this?