The Too Busy Generation

I had originally written this article specific to my fellow Gen-Xers, but an interesting thought occured to me this Sunday at church. For the first time in a long time, I turned away from the sermon, and away from my daughter to look at the other people in the congregation. Whammo! I was struck to see the same stare at the pulpit that I have seen a million times when I looked at people watching TV. I had written the article based on a generation that was too busy being distracted to be productive. Now, I am revising that to include...well...everyone. And, I pose the question, what is TV doing to our natural ability to think and reason for ourselves?

It is a common thought that ...

So, I am now calling this group of people the "Too Busy Generation". And the range of people that are affected is spreading. Actually, it is probably better labeled the Too Busy Dilemma. It is spreading to those older than Gen-X and it is probably appropriate for the younger ones as well, I just don't know them. There are so many distractions in life that we feel compelled to address this very second that we have to prioritize. A sad fact is that most people start their priority list with the activity that requires the most distraction with the least amount of personal interaction. Let's just look at a couple of activities that we do by ourselves, such As

1) TV shows- No longer is their one favorite, but there is a favorite for each night, plus re-runs of old favorites. There are favorites that can take you from the end of business day all the way to bed time. You could spend 8 hours at the office then "unwind" in front of the TV for 5-6 hours. Where does the day go?

2) Video games - I got an Xbox 360 for Christmas, I love it, but I rarely let myself turn it on. Why? Because there were several times that I played for 6-8 hours without realizing more than an hour had passed. I told some fellow gamers and they responded that they had spent 125-150 HOURS playing the same game. THAT IS A FULL MONTH OF WORK!!

3) The internet - Between email, blogging, chatting, surfing and working, it is amazing our computers have not become permanently attached to our bodies. Of course, for some, their cell phones are doubling as mini-computers so that they are always in touch with EVERYONE.

4) Music - I recently saw a fast food employee here in Keyser with headphones on. Not the ones that help him communicate with the rest of the staff, music headphones. When did our world become so full of noise? When did peace and quiet become obsolete? I guess that the prospect of being left alone with their thoughts could seem quite lonely to some.

I am going to stop listing things there. I have known all this for a while, but it has really begun wearing on me lately because I run a fairly hectic schedule, but I am not too busy to attend church, or to be a member of community groups, or to attend volunteer events, or to attend a political event. Actually, I have a lot of fun with many of these activities. But my biggest reason for championing these causes is that I want more of my fellow Americans to get involved. Liberals aren't the only ones that want to see the poor get helped, our young get educated, or our domestic lives improved. I agree 100% with many of the good intentions that liberals advocate, but I differ on one point, the government should NOT be the group in charge. Besides it's complete lack of accountability, there is no requirement for the recipient to reciprocate what they receive. That is the opposite of the economic belief system that we conservatives pro port...Capitalism. If I want a paycheck, I perform a job. If I want a loaf of bread, I pay someone who has bread. If I need my house painted, I contract someone to paint it (I am not a big fan of painting anymore).

If someone can get a government check, they don't need to find a job. Why would they. Once the checks start, they just pick them up at the post office each month. There's no boss to report to, no action necessary on their part. If the government will educate and distract their kids from 8-3 each day, why should they be bothered with teaching their kids anything or helping with homework. If the government will build parks, why would a civic group take on the challenge? If the government will pay my health bills, why wouldn't I go to the hospital every month (I know about this from growing up near a hospital, ambulances only run people to the hospital not back home. Instead of walking back, it was logical to many that the people living near the hospital should drive them home, so they knocked on our door)

Now we are entitled to have big brother take care of the trivial civic issues so that we can get to work on managing the noise in our lives.

I feel that it is an encumbrance upon myself and all conservatives to step up. We say we want smaller government, great...the poor still need support, kids still need educated, and what's the point of waking up each day if you don't do something to make your life a little better? Turn off the TV and go join a civic group, volunteer with a church, or the United Way, run for an office. And most importantly, give 110% in your volunteer work. If you believe in what you are doing, you will want to be active. If you don't believe in it, go find something you do believe in and do that. Can't find anything, start your own group. Good luck, and God Bless.