Once upon a time in this great culture of ours, trust wasn't a big issue. You met someone, and unless they let you down, in some huge way, your trust was freely given. And theirs, in return. Nowadays however, it seems as though we've had to reign in what used to be taken for granted. In business transactions, only a fool would now accept the first word of the person trying to "sell" you. In day to day scenarios, it now requires some finesse, just to accomplish what used to be ordinary. It seems as if everyone is "on guard". So much so, that you begin to feel as though people are performing background checks on you, just to see if you're "real". WTF???
And I won't even go into how different personal relationships are becoming. Rediculous. Of course, back in the day, we didn't have facebook, and myspace, or online dating sites, or skype. Web cams have become the new "handshake". (No pun intended.)
I still get annoyed by people who would rather spend their free time, chatting with others online. I mean, what the hell is happening to us? What happened to getting together for a cup of coffee and TALKING for f--ksakes? I used to love riding out with the intention of meeting up with friend(s) for just such an occasion. Now, it's as though, people are taking to hiding out in their homes. That their uncomfortable doing the face-to-face. That God forbid, someone that they don't want to talk to, should see them.
Is trust truly a commodity now? Have we become so "hard-wired", that our interpersonal lives are becoming history? I shudder to think what's gonna happen to the subsequent generations, if this is the forecast now. I have a college aged son, who spends far to much of his time online, and then laments the fact that he doesn't have a "real" girlfriend. I know of others who complain that they have too few friends, and yet will sit on the damn computer for 12 hours...
I know one thing for certain, and that's this...if we don't get back what used to be called humanity, I don't think I'd really want to be around to witness the outcome. I'd rather ride off into a lonely sunset. At least I could trust in that.
Ride Free
Tweek