Communication These Days...

A Time to Talk When a friend calls to me from the road And slows his horse to a meaning walk, I don't stand still and look around On the hills I haven't hoed, And shout from where I am, "What is it?" No, not as there is time to talk. Blade-end up and five feet tall. And plod: I go up to the stone wall For a friendly visit. -- Robert Frost, 1916 How often these days we forget to walk up to the stone wall for a friendly chat. Our electronic walls are up and no one seems to see beyond them any more. Don't get me wrong: I'm a techie -- I work in IT (information technology) and it's the technology part that allows me to work remote from Chesterville. Still, some parts of technology just get in the way of good, old-fashioned, face-to-face communication. Lots of white-collar office jobs (or is the casual shirt set these days?) require computer skills, with all the baggage that comes along with that computer on your desk. Email, instant messaging, cell phone texting, video conferencing