How Many Hours a Day?

My daily routine, like most people's these days, is influenced greatly by technology. A typical day starts when my alarm clock off my cell phone rings and urges me to start living. As soon as possible, I shake my computer's mouse to wake it and start visiting websites. I cannot seem to function without seeing what is going on in the world, and the internet never lets me down with a lack of information. After reluctantly tearing myself from the virtual world, I ready myself for class and real human interaction. These are the interactions that keep our humanity in tact. It is during this time we practice our manners, our conversational skills and most importantly, our good hygiene. All of those things could be lost if we lived solely in the virtual world. Even so, as we sit across from a friend at lunch, or listen to our professors intentely in class, we are increasingly disconnected from the real world as we become connected to the other world. How many of us are guilty of eating a meal with friends, but texting while we do so? How many of us use our laptops in class to check our facebook page rather than type our lecture notes? After we return from those real life situations, how many of us go directly to our computer to mindlessly surf the internet again? I know I am guilty of all of these things. In fact, most nights, using the computer is the last thing I do before I go to sleep, waiting for the cycle to repeat itself tomorrow. This doesn't make us bad people, as we are just living in the times we are in. However, it wouldn't hurt us to be more aware of just how much time we are using making connections on the internet, and how this may make us lose connections in the real world.