Month: July 2012

joshuarobertlong:

thinking about it all. There are some kids now, the younger generation, the kids that are just now turning 13 or 14 or 15 or 16 or 17 or 18. They don’t know the thrill of just randomly going over to someone’s house, knocking on the door, seeing if they are home, being told they’re not, and then having to walk back home and figure out something else to do. It seems like a simple enough thing, something that isn’t that much of a deal, but it is. The news lady went on to say how kids don’t even have the lust for travel anymore. They can just look at pictures and videos of things around the world, they don’t see the point. When I was 18 and 19 I wanted to see every goddamn edge of the Earth, and within my abilities and finances, I saw pretty much every side of North America at least, which is what I’ll always know to be my home.

It’s too early to know if any of that actually means something, but I’m saying it does. Being rejected by an empty door is a part of life, it adds character to the person you were trying to see. It shows them they were worth the travel, worth the three block walk to their house. There is no value in a text message, a Facebook message, etc etc etc. Try it once. Don’t be another part of your generation that just turns into this inward mass who know longer knows how to turn the pages of an encyclopedia or ring a doorbell. Step away from the internet. Step into someone’s doorway.

I don’t agree that there’s no value in electronic communication, but I totally agree that a lot of the value of friendship comes from the effort exerted to make it happen.