I just turned 50 and you know you’re getting old when you think about the good old days. Society is much different today than a few decades ago. The biggest change I see is the quantity of fear in our everyday lives. A good example of this is dating.
I enjoy self-deprecating humor. Laughter is healthy. If there’s something you can’t joke about, there’s a problem. Therefore, I admit I finally succumbed to the power of the Internet and started dating online.
While most of my experiences in this one-dimensional world have become funny stories at family gatherings, I can’t help think how human interaction used to be the only factor in dating, but isn’t anymore. Let’s say I want to ask a woman out in a public place. This isn’t an easy task. Asking a woman out in public wasn’t a big deal years ago, but today if you walk up to someone to make conversation, however noble your intentions might be, you stand a good chance of being Maced or pepper-sprayed.
Another example is how everyone has tuned out of society. I remember telling my kids to remove their headphones but I look around today and every woman either has a cell phone attached to her head or has her ear-pods plugged in, which is a signal meaning, “Please leave me alone.”
I’m not sure if there’s less love in society today than a few decades ago, but one thing’s for sure: There’s a lot more fear.
Ken Hopstad
Lake Stevens
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