There is a coffee shop I go to. I’m getting to be kind of a regular there. The lady who owns it recognizes me now. There is a group of old guys that get together there and chat about life. They discuss the towns business and undoubtedly they have seen our little hamlet change and morph in ways I can only imagine. When I see them, I imagine they are like a group of Jewish leaders getting together by the gate of the city and discussing politics and theology. They have seen so much in the world. I notice when someone is not in the group anymore. I know if one has gone into a nursing home or died. More come and take their place. It’s comforting to see that this community will be there when I’m of retirement age… I hope.
Will our generation be this tight in real life or will we sit at home posting to Facebook or whatever social media has taken it’s place?
Will it matter that I live in a small town then? Will we have practiced spending time together in real life enough to spend our retirement connecting in a way we never could when we were child laden, working and bustling around the world? Or will we be so out of practice in seeing another human face to face that we will hole up in our homes and not know how to function?
For now… I’m going to get a bit of sleep before my world starts to spin out of control in the morning. *all images found 
on google
Life and Photos by Andy 
These are very interesting questions you ponder. I suppose time will tell…..
Ha! For a minute there, I thought I was reading another bloggers post. I regularly follow another fellow who frequently raises these same questions and sees the coffee house as the place where people go to talk and connect. There are many people out here that feel the same way you do about the concerns of technology and its effect on social interaction…in real life. I’ll include a link to his blog, http://culturemonk.com/ you may enjoy it. Recently he started touring different cities to visit their coffee houses and to meet up with some of the people who have been following his blog. He is pretty down to earth. if you do chose to check him out.
I read him! I’ve been following him on twitter as well.
🙂 Good to know that someone else is spreading the word…
I think getting to know each other on FB first helps “break the ice” for when you meet in person. Just as it is awkward to run into someone you unfriended for no other reason than that they bored you.