It makes me wonder

Recently, I saw a young mother walking with a child in a stroller. The hood of the stroller was up, so I couldn't really see the child well, but it looked to be under a year old. The mother was pushing the stroller with one hand, and in the other hand she held a cell phone playing a video to entertain the child. So, my question is this, "When did electronic gadgets replace human interaction?" It occurred to me that the hood should have been down so the child could examine the world - the sights and sounds going on around it, and interact with its mother and cement a relationship with a warm blooded human. Passersby might have cooed and talked to the child briefly. More human interaction. But instead, the child was locked into looking at the small screen of a cell phone to garner whatever entertainment was there. I was sad to see it.

It's bad enough when you're at a restaurant and you see a family gathered around a table and they aren't talking to each other. Each has a cell phone and is disassociated from the here and now. A family - or even a couple - around a table and no communication between them. Sad.

Electronic communication is a wonderful thing until it entirely replaces human interaction. Remember when you could go to the grocery store and chat to others waiting in line to check out? It seldom happens any more. So many people are walking with their heads down to read the latest news on a device that they miss what's going on around them. They miss the beauty, the sights and sounds of humanity. They miss out meeting new acquaintances, perhaps making a new friend. Sad.

Sure, I enjoy "electronics" time, but I prefer "human" time. There's not as much as there used to be. I miss it.