One of the things that happens when I go to CT is that I remember what life was like way back... well, OK, I'm not ancient or anything, but I see how different life is for these teenagers and I wonder sometimes...
When I was in high school, typing class was on a typewriter. I bet most of these kids have never seen a typewriter! The mother of my best friend growing up is a published author and I can remember visiting her after she moved to Virginia and her mom started writing. Her mom's office was floor to ceiling books, and on her desk one of the oldest typewriters I've ever seen. Visiting her a few years ago, with her MacIntosh, she told me how hard it has been to make that transition. Email, computers, internet - it's a totally different life!
When I graduated high school, my friends and I all wrote letters to each other and sealed them to be read while away at college, homesick. Some of us continued writing, occasionally called each other with huge phone bills to boot. There was no IM, no email, no internet. Out of all my high school friends, I've remained friends with two. Others I rarely hook up with, two managed to hang on despite our distance. My boyfriend? Well, one can only wonder what IM or email might have salvaged, although I'm quite certain it would have only prolonged the inevitable!
The funny thing is what email is today. Tonight I called a good Bible study friend who hasn't come this year due to getting a job. We've been emailing each other to keep in touch, but I decided to call tonight for that personal touch. I decided emailing is more fun! We say more, accomplish more, sad! I also find myself emailing my neighbor several times a day. I can see her house yet I choose to email. Why? Our daughter's are playmates and when we talk on the phone, they interrupt constantly, when we get together they monopolize our conversations, and when we email we get so much more accomplished!! It's kind of weird!
Email just changed everything in so many ways. I feel more connected and less personally connected, I feel like I have so much more information at my fingertips but am becoming so much more of an introvert. How do extroverts deal with email?? It's wonderful for me, yet I'm starting to feel challenged. If I sit here, behind this computer screen, will I ever be able to GO like I'm called? Will I lose all sense of reality, all my social skills (or lack thereof!), my presence in the world?
I've seen kids today who spend hours at the computer (like me), who depend on all these things that didn't even exist when I was their age. Sure, we had video games, arcades, cable TV, but this is different. It's creating a generation of introverts who might have been something huge in the world - don't you think?
When I was in high school, typing class was on a typewriter. I bet most of these kids have never seen a typewriter! The mother of my best friend growing up is a published author and I can remember visiting her after she moved to Virginia and her mom started writing. Her mom's office was floor to ceiling books, and on her desk one of the oldest typewriters I've ever seen. Visiting her a few years ago, with her MacIntosh, she told me how hard it has been to make that transition. Email, computers, internet - it's a totally different life!
When I graduated high school, my friends and I all wrote letters to each other and sealed them to be read while away at college, homesick. Some of us continued writing, occasionally called each other with huge phone bills to boot. There was no IM, no email, no internet. Out of all my high school friends, I've remained friends with two. Others I rarely hook up with, two managed to hang on despite our distance. My boyfriend? Well, one can only wonder what IM or email might have salvaged, although I'm quite certain it would have only prolonged the inevitable!
The funny thing is what email is today. Tonight I called a good Bible study friend who hasn't come this year due to getting a job. We've been emailing each other to keep in touch, but I decided to call tonight for that personal touch. I decided emailing is more fun! We say more, accomplish more, sad! I also find myself emailing my neighbor several times a day. I can see her house yet I choose to email. Why? Our daughter's are playmates and when we talk on the phone, they interrupt constantly, when we get together they monopolize our conversations, and when we email we get so much more accomplished!! It's kind of weird!
Email just changed everything in so many ways. I feel more connected and less personally connected, I feel like I have so much more information at my fingertips but am becoming so much more of an introvert. How do extroverts deal with email?? It's wonderful for me, yet I'm starting to feel challenged. If I sit here, behind this computer screen, will I ever be able to GO like I'm called? Will I lose all sense of reality, all my social skills (or lack thereof!), my presence in the world?
I've seen kids today who spend hours at the computer (like me), who depend on all these things that didn't even exist when I was their age. Sure, we had video games, arcades, cable TV, but this is different. It's creating a generation of introverts who might have been something huge in the world - don't you think?
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