This morning I read an article that Macy’s is closing down some stores and will be cutting jobs. I’m sure one of the reasons listed will be that they can’t compete with online sales.  Last evening there was a news article about a ‘virtual’ restaurant from which people could order from a very broad menu and have it delivered by an Uber driver. ‘We will be seeing more and more of these virtual restaurants’, quipped the founder. Every day, more and more people are opting to telecommute for work, isolated physically from their fellow associates. Everything they need to do can be done from anywhere there is electricity and and an internet connection.

What is going on?

‘It is said that when one gets older, their world gets smaller. That circle where they  lived, worked, ate, socialized just keeps closing in until soon they no longer want to leave their home. That is interesting. Think about how small the world will be for today’s young adults as they enter their senior years when their world is already becoming so purposefully small? When there is longer the desire to eat in an actual restaurant, or feel the need to  physically hold in their hand what they want to purchase or meet face-to-face with their peers at work, how much smaller can it get? Their world will implode.

I ask, when did we go from being a race that loved to socialize and feel a part of something bigger than ourselves to one where our  happiness is dictated by how fast our connection is to store three blocks down the street?  When did we give up our membership in the human race to become fleshy robots punching keys and ordering sushi to enjoy in the solitary confinement of the silo we call home.

I’m as guilty as the next person for ordering off Amazon and working from home. However there needs to be a balance and I work hard to maintain that balance. I pray that our young adults understand this as well lest we lose what makes us human.

Susan