I received some mail today. Not just the usual bills or junk but an actual piece of handwritten mail, from my good friend who happens to live in Chicago. It is such a refreshing feeling to communicate by way of pen and paper, rather than an endless series of clicking(I'm talking to you, keyboard and cell phone). We write back and forth on a regular basis and receiving her letters is infinitely more satisfying than receiving a Facebook wall post or something similar. We write about anything and everything I have really become accustomed to seeing her familiar envelope (it's blue) in my mailbox.
As a nation, our ways of communication have really started to bother me. Our lives are dominated by sites like Facebook and Twitter, and I'll be damned if I meet someone who doesn't text on a daily basis. Our interpersonal relationships have taken a turn for the technological worse. Now, stages of relationships can be broken down by which means of technology are being employed.
After meeting someone at a party or a show, a Facebook friend request is the standard protocol. Then, after maybe a series of Instant Messages or Wall Posts, cell phone numbers are exchanged and now this relationship has moved into the slightly more personal, albeit, still "face-less" stage of texting. This is the stage that some personal details are given and if both members agree, a hang-out is arranged and from there both parties may choose to continue the series of texting and hanging-out.
Now I know I am talking in terms of generalities but for the most part, this is how I observe most of my peers' relationships happening. Does it bother anyone else that this is how our social structure is set up? It is slightly unnerving that our culture has embraced this almost totally. I experience actual anger when I witness someone glued to their phone while we are doing something, or at a restaurant. One of the scariest things is that no one seems to care, or notice.
Maybe I just hate people. Maybe I just hate everything.
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