When was the last time you sent someone an actual letter or invitation in the mail (that’s right, snail mail) asking them to join you at an event, besides maybe your wedding invitation? It wasn’t too long ago that when you told someone you would meet them at a particular place and time, you had to be there. Not only would it be awfully rude to not show up (our society has gotten much less formal over the generations), but it would be difficult to get in touch with the person to even be able to tell him/her you couldn’t make it or you would be 20 minutes late. Now you simply pick up your cell phone, press one button for your friend or colleagues’ stored number in your phone, and tell them you are unable to attend. Or heck, you could email them, send them a Facebook message, Tweet about it, or take a photo of why you can’t make it and send it to him or her within seconds. Technology has made our lives exponentially easier, there’s no doubt about that; but technology has also made us unreliable.
It’s a Generational Thing
I have always prided myself on following through with the things I say I am going to do, but growing up a Gen. Y kid, I was usually alone in my habit of making plans and sticking to them. Even now, I have friends who have bought houses, are successful businesspeople, and still will not tell me if they are going to join me for dinner on Friday night. Being so connected to the rest of the world allows us to make, break, or change our plans in a moment’s notice, and you bet Generation Y and whatever-the-heck-comes-after-that, those people will be the most unreliable people in history.
In addition to technology allowing us to change our plans so quickly, it also opens us up to so many more options. We can find out ten or more things going on in any city in the country and many in the world just by going to the “Events” section on Facebook. I know which friends are engaging in which activities. We don’t know we’re missing out on something if we don’t know it is going on in the first place, so now that we know what our options are, we can do “what we feel like” doing. To heck with making commitments! Let’s just plan our lives day by day – or even minute by minute.
