Hmmmmm...

Speaking with a friend today on the telephone and as he was in a rush, he suggested that I call him later this evening.

ME: "I'll call you around 9:30"
HIM: "Better to call at the top of the hour.  That way it doesn't interrupt our TV show."
ME: "Right.  Because TV shows are so much more important than friendships"
HIM: (Nervous laugh) "Well, no but.."

Now, as a person who watches very little TV of any kind, maybe I'm being a bit over sensitive.  But it did strike me as prophetic.  This is the way the world has been going for some time now.  Technology has made it easier to communicate but harder for us to relate.  For the record, I am no technological Luddite..I work in IT and of course I am using a computer to post this to my blog.  I think it was more that my friend was dead serious in his request and didn't think there was anything unusual about it at all.  I have this vision of him 40 years from now sitting alone in front of a television in a nursing home staring, slack-jawed at some forgettable program while the phone sitting beside him remains forever silent.  I hope my vision doesn't come to pass, not just for my friends sake but for all of our sakes....