15 Weeks 0 Days: A Letter About Time Travel

Dear Baby,

I wish I could travel back in time so you at least grow up when I did. I mean, I'm sure it would be cool to grow up in the 50's or 60's, but even my childhoods was a simpler time than now. I'm glad I grew up at a time when there was no internet. I'm sure it existed even when I was a little kid, but it wasn't in anyone's houses. I remember when I was in my mid teens I think I knew one person who had America Online at their house... And their dad was a doctor! That was like a big deal. But before that, there was nothing. If I needed information, I had to go to the library. If I wanted a job, I had to dig through the newspaper then drive around town putting in applications... That I wrote out by hand. If I wanted to go to the movies, it was back into the paper. And if I wanted a date, I had to actually meet a girl in person and TALK to her face to face. It was nerve wracking and you could get rejected in person, but it built character and social skills that are far lacking today. There was actually work involved in getting anything done. And I think that our society has grown too used to the instant gratification that modern technology brings. In reality, it's supposed to save us time and make us more productive, but has it really? Has sitting on a computer all day, growing pail and allergic to sunlight really made us more productive?

This is why I can't get into social networking sites online and I get frustrated by the amount of time I spend online no matter what. I always think it's too much. It's because I remember before the internet and I think of those days as better then now. I liked when you had to go out into the world to do stuff. I wish I was out doing stuff right now, but the damn internet has got me in it's clutches.

And what about exercise? When I was a kid, I had no other entertainment than to run around outside. Sure there were video games and television shows, but they sucked. So we would walk 2-3 miles to go into town and hang out. Is there any kid living today that would walk two miles? And I was a very thin teenager. I had teachers in school think I was on drugs because I was too thin. But then the computer came about and I turned into a fat bastard. And as these "conveniences" become more prominent, as video games get better and more realistic, the fatter a nation we become. Plus, we just had so much fun. Me and my buddies, running around town, causing trouble, playing music in bands, going to local shows. And that was in a small town where there was nothing to do, think of all the possibilities here in Portland.

Even now, as I sit here and type this letter I can feel myself getting fatter and lazier. But by the time you are in your mid teens, there will be computers that you stick on your head so you just think you're doing something. There will be no movement or leaving the house required for existence. At least not in this fat country... Every other country in the world still goes outside.