HUMAN TOUCH

                                                HUMAN TOUCH

    Our society is letting a great gift slip away. We are losing the gift of communcation, as it is slowly disappearing from our lives, I am not really referring to communication from a technical standpoint, but rather persoanl interaction, and people skills. Our lives are simply too busy, people are in too much of a hurry, in too much of a rush, sometimes even in a rush to go nowhere.

    Practically everything we do in this day and age seems to be on the run. Nobody seems to stop and take a moment to exchange basic simple pleasantries any more. Oh, we may be courteous and smile at someone as we pass by them on street, or strolling through the mall, and we may even hold a door open for somebody now and then. Sadly though, we just do not take the time or energy for idle chit chat.

    You name it, it has been made more convenient for us. The banking industry has especially went out of there way to accommodate us. They have arranged for our employers to provide us with direct deposit. They have provided us with ATM machines that can be accessed twenty four hours a day. And let us not forget that there is always the drive through window available to us.

    In the modern era, outside of pizza parlors that have provided free home delivery for decades now, the drive through window is really what started it all. It was devised for faster, more convenient service. It was created to allow the consumer the benefit of remaining in your vehicle while your transactions were being processed. Soon after, drive through windows started cropping up everywhere, for just about anything that you could imagine. Every major fast food chain has a drive through window. Beer and liquor stores started offering drive through service. Coffee joints have them as well, esspresso express, a cup of joe to go. In Las Vegas you can even get take your marital vows with the benefit of a drive through window. A quickie wedding used to refer to a couple that were getting married because of a pregnancy, now refers to not having to get out of your car.

    In addition to those fine services, we have checkout lines without cashiers, pay at the pump, order by mail, shop online, meals on wheels, just to mention a few. There really is not much need to even leave your home anymore. I will not pretend nor do I want to leave you with the impression that I never utilize those services, but I do try and use them sparingly. I enjoy going inside and seeing people, and visiting with friends and acquaintances that I may not otherwise see. The funny thing is that more often than not the vehicles that I see waiting in line at the drive throughs, as I walk inside to conduct my business are still in line as I leave. So mcuh for faster, quicker service.

    In my opinion it is very obvious that our personal communciation skills have eroded. We do a terrific job when we are talking into a speaker at a McDonalds drive through window. We do a marvelous job when we are communicating through the use of a computer or a fax machine. What saddens me though, is that we have lost the art of communicating with people face to face. Sadly we have lost that human touch.