Communication Philosophy Part 2

Here's one more thought that I have come up with on this topic over the past year or two. I think all of this new-fangled technology has taken some of the art out of road trips. It has taken some of the hassle out of it too, but we're going to focus on the art part today. Nowadays, when people go on a long trip, they bring along their Game Boy or handheld PlayStation (whatever they're called), their DVD player, their mp3 player, their cell phone, their GPS, books on CD/tape/mp3, and who knows what else. Using all of these gadgets, everyone can fully ignore everybody else in the car for the entire trip unless you have to request a bathroom stop, and in that case you just send a text message. :-)

Whatever happened to riding in the car and having a deep meaningful conversation, doing Chinese fire drills, playing the "who can keep their hand on the window the longest when it's 20 below" game, playing the license plate game, the alphabet game, everybody's mother's favorite "little red schoolhouse" game, singing songs a capella, getting lost because someone can't read the map, making signs to put in the windows of your car, tormenting your siblings because you're bored, and listening to your sister scream because your brother is bored and is tormenting your sister? I was also going to mention using walkie-talkies between cars, but maybe that counts as a new technology?

I don't think the art is completely dead yet though. A few months ago I met some kids from Minneapolis who still know how to do a road trip up right. They were doing all sorts of fun things including running to the thrift shop next door while gassing the car up, making up little car dances, and making the person whose turn it is to put in gas do something silly while they put in gas.

I agree with Jen that this remote communication stuff keeps people in their "bubble" more. But I try to resist this temptation sometimes and get out there and meet new and interesting people. And get to know some old friends better.

Here's a couple other random thoughts:
Reggie now has an opossum and a squirrel under his belt for the year. The opossum barely made any kind of thump, so it may not have been a direct hit.

There are some days when I'm at the YMCA when I wish I had a camera. Today I saw a lady on an exercise bike reading a newspaper with one pair of glasses on her face and another pair of glasses on her head in her hair. That just kind of struck my funny bone.

One of the best inventions ever was mapping programs on the computer. That's a definite good addition to the modern road trip. Maybe the next post will be all the benefits of road tripping with new technology.