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OUR OPINION
We’re a lonely bunch. Due to social media, the convenience of online ordering and shopping, working from home and the decline of social groups and church attendance we don’t interact face to face with strangers or acquaintances like generations past.
An article I read recently in The Atlantic explained there are three rings of social interaction: inside our homes; within our communities; and consumption of media. Theoretically, we agree ideologically with the people we live with: the inner ring. We also tend to consume media that reinforces what we already believe, whether that’s the news channel we watch or the algorithms feeding our social media accounts: the outer ring.
The middle ring, our local community, where we interact on a personal level with people who we don’t necessarily agree with, is deteriorating.
We don’t go to church like we used to. We don’t eat out in restaurants like we used to. We don’t join social clubs or service organizations like we used. We don’t even host guests in our homes like we used to, according to this article.
I once knew a woman who told me her biggest regret in life was being an only child because she never learned to fight. I had never thought of this before.
Being the youngest of three, I did learn to fight from my siblings. It’s these early interactions that teach us how to stick up for ourselves, listen to another’s perspective, and (hopefully) come to a compromise.
The same can be said for kids being allowed to play with each other without direct supervision. We’re lucky to live in a small town like Newport, where our kids are free to roam the neighborhood, play with their friends and work out their problems. The playground is where problem solving is first learned.
As adults, we could stand to learn from kids on a playground. But in order to do that, we need to get out of our homes and interact – face to face – with people. You can tell from reading the Opinion page in this newspaper that our neighbors think differently from each other. (I was recently stunned to find out that two of our regular letter writers with opposing views meet for coffee.)
So maybe the next time you’re craving some takeout, dine in at the restaurant and say “hi” to the people at the next table. Better yet, pick up the phone and call someone you haven’t spoken to in while.
You can agree to leave politics out of the conversation and just catch up.
Maybe if we exercise our social skills, we can remember what it’s like to get along with people different from us and learn from each other.
-Michelle C. Nedved Publisher
