I'm starting to feel like some ancient relic here, but, wow, when did iPods and every other MP3 player take over the world?I love music just as much as the next person, but I'm starting to wonder how healthy it is to constantly have a soundtrack to your life playing no matter what you do and where you do it.

I was out front this morning scraping up old french fries and cracker crumbs from the back seat of my car when two college aged girls jogged by. They were in sync with each other and obviously friends but each had an iPod going. I remember when I used to go out running/jogging with my friends we would shoot the breeze, make commentary on other people we saw as we ran past, had moments of silence...it was nice. Just another chance to interact. It seems like along with everything else, the advent of the MP3 player is making social interaction that much closer to extinction.

I see people sitting together at coffee shops each listening to their players. Walking down the street with headphones on, at bus stops, the supermarket, bank....you name it. Does anyone ever stop using these things anymore? Do they sit down to move their bowels listening to Eine Kleine Nachtmusik or have sex while she listens to Jack Johnson and he listens to ACDC? I don't get it.

Like I said, I am a lover of music. From Mozart to hard rock, I love and have listened to it via headphones...but it has all had a time and place. Namely, when I have been alone or wanting to be alone (as in, not in a misanthropic way, but just really wanting the creepy guy sitting next to me on the plane to leave me alone kind of way), but when I was out with friends we would talk....compare notes on life...have moments of golden silence. Does anyone do that anymore? Shouldn't the soundtrack of our lives include birds chirping, cars honking, catching hilarious snippets of conversation from strangers as they walk past? Do we need to remove ourselves from reality this much?

And while I am guilty of loathing the phone and opting to communicate via email, which in a way makes me just as guilty in shutting out the world as the iPod addicts, I still want to feel in touch with what is going on around me when I leave the house. I listen to the radio in my car, then get out and listen to the world when I get to my destination. It may not always be pleasant to the ear, but it is life and real and raw. I'm just afraid that all of this technology (here goes Ms. Dinosaur) is cutting our humanity away. No more actual talking because we have texting and email & social networking sites, no more listening because we have miniscule earpieces hermetically sealed into our ears....heck, you don't even have to leave the house anymore because you can buy ANYTHING on the internet. All great things in moderation....but does anyone know how to moderate anymore?

I'm done waxing & waning. Off to listen to my children play.....I pray that when they get to be teenagers the latest thing won't be personal sized sensory deprivation chambers for walking around in. But it looks like the trend is leaning towards that....