Published: April 07, 2008 09:00 pm            

Ms. Takes: Technology has changed the ways we communicate

Technology has changed the ways we communicate

We were talking with friends the other day about the miracles of modern communication.

Through the Internet, it is now possible to reach out and touch someone almost anytime and anywhere around the globe with just a click of a computer key. While Number Two son was stationed overseas, our telephone conversations were often clearer than a long-distance call to my brother in Missouri. Of course, there was a communication satellite hovering over Cornwall, while Missouri was pretty much on its own.

But while we can communicate with someone anywhere, we often don’t know our neighbors! Gone are those hot and humid summer evenings when the neighbors would come over to sit and talk and, perhaps, catch a cooling breeze. The porch swing was pressed into service (kids sat on the porch steps) and Mom could be counted on for a pitcher of lemonade. The latter was cooled by a chunk of ice separated from the 50-pound chunk delivered by the iceman that afternoon.

And communicate we did. The advantage of small-town Yorkville was that you knew all of the neighbors and if they were not sitting on your porch and drinking your lemonade, you were over at their place. My Best Friend lived in a much larger town, but the neighborhood took the place of small-town closeness and the fellowship was about the same.

While adults cooled off with lemonade and an evening breeze, Ed and I would get sweated up playing hide and seek with the Dirst and Martin kids and, sometimes, the much-younger Dale and Yvonne Perkins. After sprinting around in sultry evening heat, we managed to sleep soundly even though it didn’t really cool off until almost morning.

Worldwide communication isn’t the only thing which has killed neighborhood friendships. Nights don’t have to be hot and humid these days, just jack up (or down?) the air conditioning and drink your own lemonade indoors where it is cool. It has been quite some time since I’ve seen a new house with a front porch and a swing.

Maybe the patio is the modern equivalent. And maybe the neighbors still come over to cook out on the patio and drink lemonade. But, I’ll bet they go indoors where it is cool to eat.

Liz Ciancone is a retired Tribune-Star reporter. Send e-mail to opinion@tribstar.com.

        

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