Entry #657498, added on 07-02-09 @ 4:01 pm EDT
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| Old Time Communication | Entry #657498 |
Title: Old Time Communication
Date: July 2, 2009, Thursday
Thought: I am concerned that the art of thoughtful and casual communication has been bullied out of favor.
Jog: My good buddy Tor   has recently made the decision to rid himself of telephone, internet, and cable TV. His plan is a good one. He will be able to put the funds funneled to the communications industry to better use. Geeze, if more folks would be as responsible we would not be in the economic mess we now are in. But, people seem to have determined that their lives simply cannot function if they have to do without or, Lord have mercy, if they have to wait to get what they want. I commend David for having the balls to step up and do what it takes. And, I must say, the fact that he is getting a cell phone to assist him to do this just tickles the bejeebers out of me. (I can see that mustache twitching now as I grin and point at him.)
But, the fact that we seem to think that a telephone, internet, and cable are necessities of life bothers me a little more than a smidgen. In fact, it scares the crap out of me. Whatever happened to thoughtful conversation? There was a time when people actually thought about how to construct a sentence when they communicated. As soon as communication became instant, we lost something in civilization—it was diminished. As it is now, we rush through our conversations. Before we can finish our thought we have zipped that puppy out across the ether-space. And do we wait for a response? Sure—for about two seconds. We stand glued to the screen expecting an answer before our heart beats a dozen beats.
There was a time when long distance communication was much more thoughtful. The writer took time to form his thoughts, scribble them on paper, wad the paper up and start over, and eventually, formulate the right thing to say. The writer took the time to fold the letter, put it in an envelope, stamp the dang thing and then drop it in the post. And then he/she waited for a response. There was a time when the wait for the response took weeks or months. Communication took time. We have become much too impatient in this society. We expect results now!
Now, I don’t want to wait for a month to get an answer to my questions, although it may not hurt me in most cases to wait. But, I am concerned that the art of thoughtful and casual communication has been bullied out of favor. I am alarmed that all of society seems to prefer instant communication, regardless of what it does to proper form and well constructed thoughts. I remember the excitement of waiting on a return letter from some sweetheart when I was in high school. There was a quiet joy in getting the letter, smelling it for a scent of perfume, and opening the letter to find the handwritten words placed on the page by the young lady. Somehow I think something would be lost in texting, which is the normal mode of teenage communication today.
So, I was kinda looking forward to dropping my friend a letter, when he divested himself of the other standards of communication. You can rest assured he won’t get any letter full of sweet nothings from me, but hopefully, I will be able to convey other ideas and concepts that are of interest to the McClains. The bottom line is that I think this world of ours would do well to divest itself of some of its instant communications. I guess I’m just an old fashioned kind of guy. OK, now I’ll post this on the internet and wait for David’s response. You’ve got five minutes.
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