I Wish The World Were Online

My life would be so much easier if its entire process was over the internet. Granted, I would make an exception for Caleb and for food, but other than that, everything sounds appealing over a computer screen.

Any cute dress I want to buy can be found online and shipped to me with 5 additional dollars. The CD I've been dying to listen to is available through iTunes, or if you're Rick, you can find it illegally somewhere. The up-to-date sports news and the latest celebrity hearsay is right at my http'd fingertips. My mom can email me and I'm more likely to respond with a full load of news which can't be interrupted with questions if I only have a 30 minute lunch. Online, I can do almost everything I want to do in less time than ever. That time that I save can be put to other slovenly uses, but dang it if I don't like things fast and impersonal sometimes.

But, what about that personal stuff? What about the times when it really is necessary for person to person contact?

Any important business, be it personal or financial, would be sanctimoniously augmented by instant messenger conferences and webcams. When I have something to gossip with about to a girlfriend, I'd text message with her while she was doing lunch in her living room. If all of the marketshare for a particular stock plummeted, the instantaneous efforts of an online trader would outweigh leaving a voice mail that would never get returned. Pouring out personal feelings would be easier, as looking into a real person's eyes makes one feel that much more vulnerable.

I'd miss hearing voices, seeing faces, poking in the ribs. But when that kind of loss is outweighed by the firewalls one can put up to keep us safe, it might be worth it. Definitely not a perfect world, but a sleeker one.