When I was a teenager, I was infatuated with a girl who lived in Idaho; I lived in Virginia at the time. We spent a fortune on postage and the occasional phone call.
I can’t help but wonder how that would have transpired in today’s wired world, where L can show babcia in Poland what she’s drawn.
If anything, the relationship would have burned out sooner, I’m sure.
There was an article on this recently — maybe in the NYT? — on grandparents (American, but living far) who now could talk to and see their grandkids. On the one hand, they said it lessened the longing, on the other — it lessened the longing! And so they visited less than they may have without the regular Skype type stuff.
But I, too, think how different my life would have been had I stayed very connected to my Polish friends. Now, many of them resist it. We DON’T use the Net to strengthen the contact. Some read my blog occasionally, but most wont even do that. It’s as if they wont acknowledge technology as a way to sustain the social elements of life. And so we’ve grown used to distance and to long periods without contact. And that’s a shame.
Funny thing, that technology…
Nie wyobrazam sobie zyc tutaj w Stanach bez internetu. Nie wiem jak emigranci radzili sobie wczesniej z rozlaka z rodzina i przyjaciolmi. W pracy slucham trojki, w weekendy regularnie korzystam ze skypa, wydaje mi sie, ze jedna noga caly czas jestem w Polsce. Jedyna przeszkoda bywa brak czasu. Wiekszosc znajomych i my takze jest rozrywana pomiedzy obowiazkami w rodzinie i pracy. Ale chyba wszystkie pokolenia przez to przechodza i przechodzily, te bez netu rowniez.
no wlasnie Kingus – czekam na jakis znak zycia od Ciebie, bo nawet Donia nie wie, co u Was (oczywiscie poza tym, co wyczytamy na blogu)