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0 pointsssl-31y ago0 comments

It may have been decades ago, but there was a time when it did not seem awkward or even unusual to just...call someone's house, or to simply stop by.

There was usually a purpose in this that was more profound than just being bored or lonely or something, but none was really required.

And maybe the person they were trying to find wasn't home right now, but that was OK. It was not weird to talk to whoever for a minute, or to hang out for awhile.

Nowadays, the ubiquity of personal pocket supercomputers means that the closest most people ever get to that kind of generally-welcome (if unexpected) interaction is a text message.

"Hey, I'm in front of your house. Are you home?"

And maybe that works more efficiently between two individuals than knocking on the door did, but otherwise this present way of doing things mostly just serves to further increase our social isolation.

Sometimes it seems that the closer it is that our technology allows us to be, the further it is that we actually become.

0 comments

bobthepanda1y ago

unfortunately, these days the inundation of spam from hucksters trying to sell you something, or worse, has now made everyone extremely distrustful of unprovoked interaction.

graemep1y ago

There is a lot less of that in IRL interaction than online interaction. I find months can go buy without anyone knocking on my door.

IT does not help with the just phoning bit but does with stopping by.

I do not get that many spam calls but I think that varies a lot, especially between countries with different laws about it.

ssl-3OP1y ago

Not everyone is paranoid.

Besides, telemarketing, door-to-door sales, and scams of all kinds aren't new -- at all.

All of these things existed Back In The Day when a friend might just knock on the door because they happened to be in the neighborhood, too.

Aeglaecia1y ago

i yearn for the days of dropping in unannounced , which is now a social faux pas

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