No changies, No take-backs!

Just when you think things are going along smoothly...changes. When you think you've found peace...changes. I was watching the television program "Bones" the other night and Bones and Booth kept saying "No changies, no take-backs" and it made me laugh, remembering back to those warm summer nights when we'd play in the yard until dark completely overtook us, then we'd chase lightning bugs and put them into canning jars with holes poked in the top. Games like statue-maker and Red Rover were staples in those days. As I watch my grandchildren sit on the couch and absorb the idiocy of Sponge Bob Square Pants and turn their brains into mush playing Wii and PlayStation I feel a sadness inside for them. They'll never know the joy of chasing a lightning bug. They live in apartments in the city, it's never dark enough for them to even SEE a lightning bug much less catch one, and it's certainly not safe enough for them to be outside after dark.

Our world has progressed to where we can e-mail, Instant Message, text, twitter and whatever else we can think of. We can watch television and surf the internet on our cell phones, email on our Blackberry and stay busy 24 hours a day. My husband and I were driving to town the other day and a couple passed us in another car. They were both on their cell phones. I turned to my husband and asked him, "Do you suppose they're talking to one another?" I enjoy watching "Secret Life of the American Teen-ager" on ABC Family and the other night it showed two teenagers, sitting next to one another, computers in their laps, Instant Messaging....EACH OTHER! Their friend asked them why, and they said it was easier to talk in Instant Message than out loud. It made me stop and think about how we're losing the art of conversation in our world.

It's sad that these changes have also brought about a loss to our world. A loss of laughing children's voices as they yell, "Red Rover, Red Rover send Judy right over!" A loss of innocence as children play violent video games, a loss of being able to converse.....sometimes I think change isn't such a good thing.