Friday night, I added 20 new friends.

Growing up I remember when the original Nintendo came out. I also remember my dad giving it to us for Christmas. I couldn't believe how REAL it looked, that it was in color and that I could go horizontally and vertically (though not in the vocabulary I'm sure). It was amazing. My brother and I sat in front of our ridiculously small tv and played that gaming system until we had blisters that day. And Dad was there with us. Sitting on the floor taking his turn. When we played the new racing game (I can't remember what it was called), Dad kept commenting on how amazing it was that as the time went on in the game, the background color changed to show that the sun had gone down. It was freaking sweet.

That was what video games were when I was small. We had one tv that sat in our living room, so when we played, it was a family event and it most certainly wasn't an every day affair. Later on in life, we got the amazing Super NES for Christmas. At this time, we had a tv in the upstairs as well as in the livingroom and he and I could play it on there. Since he and I had to buy all our games, we saved our allowance and pooled it together to buy the best graphics game available: Star Fox. Even then, video games were not a constant. It was usually a rainy day or night time affair.

I guess what I am trying to say is that video games were amazing and we did play them growing up but TV, video games and especially computers, were not a big part of my childhood and they especially weren't what the adults did. I'm so annoyed with society now I could puke. Friends don't get together anymore and hang out, they meet up online. They chat over Facebook or play Call of Duty over the internet. I get tired of hearing people say to their friends, "Get online after work and I'll beat your a** at some Halo." Why not, lets get together after work and hang out? Instead of calling to tell you something, they send a quick text. Ugh.

I see how parents spend all night long ignoring their kids in the back yard to play World of Warcraft or Farmville. Didn't it used to be the opposite? Weren't the kids the ones whining that they wanted to play the video games while the parents said to go play outside? Or what about every kid having their own tv, computer, and gaming system in their own bedroom so that the parents never have to see them? I feel like parents are doing everything they can not to be parents. I get annoyed when I see giant SUV's going down the road, and every kid has their own headphones and TV screen in front of them. What is so bad about interacting with your family? Talking with your children? I remember long road trips across country with my family. We played all sorts of games and talked so much. I learned a lot about my parents and family on those road trips and we enjoyed each other. Sure, there were times where my dad wanted to throw himself out the window, but that comes with being a parent on a three day trip.  =)

AJ & I have both decided that neither one of us thinks to our favorite memories as kids or as adults and remembers anything to do with technology. None of our best memories or best times come from having a screen in our face or a controller in our hands. Our favorite memories growing up were always the ones where our parents were actually involved with us. For me it was my dad, brother, and I playing monopoly almost every day when he got home from work for an entire summer. Or our many fishing and camping trips. Ones that happened almost every weekend. For AJ, it was when his dad would play ball with him outside or come watch his soccer games. As we got older, our favorite memories always involve going somewhere and doing something with friends and family. I have never regretted not playing a video game or watching a movie instead of going somewhere and doing something active. But many times it is the other way around.  I want to interact with and have a relationship with my children, my family, and my friends. I want to have memories that make me smile and that I can laugh about with all of them. I won't look back in the end and  wish that I had more friends on facebook or that I finished building that mansion on Fronterville or whatever game, but I will look back and think, "I should have spent more time with the ones I love." Technology is taking that away. Its so sad to me. It really is.