We can all agree that technology has helped us out in many ways. At least I think most of us would agree. Without technology, I would be writing all of this in a composition book I keep under my bed. Some people would call that a diary or a journal, but because of technology, I will call it a blog. Thank you technology.
As it goes, I am not going to go on an old man rant here in my journal (I mean blog). I simply am going to present a situation, give my thoughts on it, and hopefully see if people have feedback.
Let me set the scene. We have all seen cars broken down on the side of the road. Many of us have probably been there ourselves. Twenty five years ago, unless you were one of the few who had a cell phone or car phone, a person must wait on the side of the road until someone else stopped to help out or you could walk yourself to a pay phone.
Cell phones and other great marvels of technology have certainly made it a bit easier to call a tow truck or call a friend to pick you up. I think we can agree on that. My question is this: Are we as a society less inclined to help someone out because we automatically assume everyone has a cell phone? It is something that crossed my mind on the drive home from Elko. The drive usually has sparse traffic and can sometimes be a lonely four hour drive. The trick on that drive is, at least for me, very little cell phone reception. What if I was stranded? Would people pull over? Or would they assume I had help on the way?
I personally would like to believe that in today's world, people are still good samaritans and would at least still ask if you needed help. At the same time, with the world of social networking and such, we as a society are already losing the ability to communicate on a personal level. People might just drive past thinking that the stranded person has a cell phone, or a tow truck app or that the person updated their twitter to say "Stranded on freeway. Stupid tire blew. #IHateFlatTires". I don't know the answer and would like to hear what other people's thoughts might be. Has the idea of technology prevented people from being helpful in these situations or are the odds still good that someone will at least ask if you're okay.
Who knows, maybe I'm the only that has thought of this. In that case, I apologize for bothering you on this December 3rd and I'll just go back to keeping a journal.
'Til next time
J.
"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." - Confucius
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