How We Survived Without Texting

As my teenage daughter sits here in the living room with her ever-present I-pod Touch, I wonder how we survived without knowing where all of our friends were at the click of a button. WHAT DID WE DO?  I vaguely remember riding my bike or walking over to my friend's house to see what was going on. BUT WHAT IF THEY WEREN'T HOME? Well then, I just counted it as good exercise and went back home. That was also back when every other kid you saw wasn't obese. Was there a link between the two? (continued)

     And then we got our driver's license. Friday night rolled around, and how did we find out where our "peeps" were, so we could go do something that we probably shouldn't?  People one by one would magically assemble in the convenience store parking lot. We would pull up, roll down our windows, sometimes actually get out of the car, and have a face to face interaction with an actual live person. Not their profile icon on a little 3x5 screen, but actually the person. It was all so difficult and painful, interacting with others. That's why alcohol had to be involved...(just kidding).

     Don't get me wrong, technology is wonderful. If not for the invention of the coffee maker, microwave, and hair straightener, I probably would not have survived to write this post at all. What drives me crazy is that all these gadgets were supposed to allow us to be more efficient, so that in turn, we could spend more time doing what we wanted-quality time with our family, friends, ect.  Instead, I see a society that would be totally happy to sit in their chairs, and surf between YouTube,  itunes, and text the people in our lives, without ever having to actually interact with them. What happened? Did we overshoot the mark a tad?

     Now if I could propose we take technology another direction.  Let's say that teenage daughter of mine decides to put the gadget down and actually leave the house. How about  we install some sort of microchip, so I can track her down? Nothing offensive, just some little device that gets injected behind her ear maybe. Also, for those moments when the child disagrees with me and displays offensive behavior, why not a stylish shock necklace? It works well on dogs, and some kids already wear what looks like a collar anyways! Just something to think about, if your in the industry....but I get the patent on it..