In my country England - the differences in how we keep in contact today compared to our parents and our grandparents - are quite dramatic!
Today contact between people happens so regularly and so quickly it sometimes feels like we can never get away from it.
Let me give you an example.
In 1963 my cousin emigrated to Australia. My mother wrote to him once a month. We could see how he looked and what he was up to only when he sent photos. We never dreamt of telephoning him - it would have cost a fortune - and anyway we didn’t have a phone in the house- we would have to have used a public telephone!
He married, had kids and his life went on in Australia with no other contact from his family in England until he came home for a holiday 26 years later!! Actually - I think he sent a telegram when his children were born - but people only used those for special announcements - usually births, deaths or weddings!
Last year, 2013 - 50 years later- how things have changed! My daughter went to Australia on a gap year. I was able to email her, to call her on a landline, to call her on a mobile, to Skype her, to fax her. And I did all of those. She may have been 10,500 miles away but it felt like she was really close. I was less worried because I could see how she looked, heard how she was feeling, and was able to share in her travels! Perfect!
For me it was perfect - but I’m not sure it always was for her with mum knowing what she was up to all the time!
So - Is there a downside to our ability to keep in contact so quickly and easily?
Well that depends on if you want to be contacted! When I was young you went on holiday for a rest and nobody could ‘get’ you. Two blissful weeks of no work, no phone, no decisions, no stress!
Next month I’m off to Europe and I’ll have my phone and my laptop with me. So everyone will be able to contact me - I hope they won’t, but the temptation will be too strong to resist and I’ll be texting, Facebooking, and Tweeting as usual!
There’s no going back to the past - we just have to learn to control the present!