Write it down!

So...I've been really thinking lately, about how much we have lost with the dissapearance of the written word. Does anybody even know what that means anymore? I just dropped a good, old fashioned note in the mail this morning. It felt odd to me, almost wrong. In the old days (here we go) people had to legitimately wait, and rely on mail from their loved ones. That was how we communicated. It was a much more honest way of life. Don't get me wrong, it's convenient that I am able to email my landlord from my phone while on the train to work, but how has it changed our relationships? OK, I'm not even going to start the rampage that I could go on with Facebook,etc. Let's just focus on the Letter. What do we get in the mail these days? Junk mail, bills, catalogues, most of which come to us through email now anyway.
Sending someone a LETTER in the mail, an actual LET TER is such a novelty these days, but it really means a great deal. A thank-you note, a newspaper clipping, anything! Yes, it costs 40-something cents now, but let's face it, we spend at least five bucks on our coffee every day!
This leads me to my rant about how the loss of these good, wholesome, real ways of communicating has lead to the DEATH of romance! Real romance is legitimately dying. We now have the ability to ask each-other out, break-up, make-up, and sometimes simply get to know each other through texts, Facebook profiles, and various emails and chats. But how well do we really know each-other then, really? Is this why, when we finally do ask someone out, or get asked out (VIA TEXT, that we often hang on to these relationships, even though we don't really know each-other at all?
I was recently faced with the fact that, after communicating with someone via text, and fifteen-thousand other forms of electronic (non) communication, and flirting like crazy, that the only way we could enjoy each-other's company (if at all) would be at a loud bar where there's no chance of reaaally talking and copious amounts of beer as a buffer. What the hell does that mean? It means that we don't want to, or know how to interract with one another! We don't really even know each-other and the idea of a face-to-face, one-on-one date scares the shit out of us. So where will we be in ten years? Standing accross from each-other in a bar, texting back and forth sans eye-contact? It's not that far off.
So what do we do about this? What can anyone do about it, except remain vigilant, and try like hell to give our fellow humans the respect that we all deserve; like actually talking to each-other! Shut down your Facebook chatting, non-confrontational selves, and pick up the phone. Or go CRAZY and have a face-to-face conversation. It may be hard to retrain yourself and learn how to be social, but it is worth it in the end. You will have an existence that is rich with friends who know you, and like being around you, and vice-versa. And while you're at it, instead of texting your best friend who lives in Baltimore getting her PhD, send her a letter. A real letter, and catch up. Old school.