1970 Something...

I was just thinking about 1970-something.  There was no Facebook. No personal computers.  I played outside with my friends until my parents forced us to come in and eat.  In the winter I never knew in the morning if I might wake up to snow.   We knew most all the neighbors.  At school we all talked about the same shows on TV.  We grew gardens.  Kids who did bad things were kind of ostracized.  Getting to talk on the phone with family members long-distance was a treat.  My parents didn't have to be too embarrassed about music on the radio.  We always sat down to a real meal prepared by my mom (other than weekends when dad grilled out). We talked at the dinner table as a family.  I had fast food about once or twice a year.   There was never sex on TV in my house.  Everybody we knew, we knew in person.  Somehow we survived without wearing seatbelts.  I could ride all over town on my bicycle before I was even 12.  $.15 snowcones and cup ball games were regular fare down at the park. People rarely divorced, but usually were fairly happy.  Sometimes people found out that their best friend-spouse shared the best days of their life toward the end.  We learned math by reading the back of baseball cards and computing our batting averages.  We were lucky to see our favorite football team once or twice a year on TV.  I learned about the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates from listening to distant radio stations.  We didn't download music; it was an "event" to go to the record store and bring an album home.  We survived fights and bullying at school.  Life was not perfect. But I think it was better.   

After writing this, i happened across an article through my Facebook feed.  It talked about the dangers of texting in a relationship to the exclusion of human interaction.  Without realizing it was happening, pI had a relationship recently that fell victim to the very same thing. Other reasons and factors were given, but assumptions were made based on texting, not to mention the familiarity it brings that were hurtful.  This is a very good read for anyone he does a lot of texting.  

http://huff.to/1c5mLYJ

I might add another point to her article.   If two people don't invest in each other enough to block off some time to actually see each other and talk on a regular basis that might be a red flag.  Texting can be done at almost any time. Is it really saying that I don't have time to talk to you without other distractions?