Guilty Bystander

The current explosion in popularity of social networking is not new. It started long ago in the 1996 with the launch of Hotmail webmail service in the US. Hotmail made people independent from their ISP as they were able to send and receive email from any computer in the world, connected to the Internet. The service tapped into the people’s minds and we become more addicted to email, the internet.

If you ask anybody who is using social networking stuff like Facebook or Twitter, they will confirm that it is very addictive. Like drugs. Like addictive behaviour. Will it get to the point when it becomes a social problem and become illegal because of its effect on society? Something to think about.

The current generation who spends hours and hours in front of a computer or keying SMS into their mobiles – will they have skill to relate to people when they get old? Will they have “friends” “following them” when they turn 70 or 80? The current generation does not know how to wait – they want everything instantly. What is going to happen when they get old? We’ll have a lot of very grumpy people. We need to prepare to deal with this now. We’re worrying about Global Warming. I think we need to start worrying about Global addiction to the Internet.

Often, in the city, there are homeless people who ask for change. “Would you have some spare change?” “Would you have a dollar?” Often, if I can, and if I have some coins in the back pocket, I would reach out and give it to them. I don’t have to, but I think, “God is looking after me, I need to help others..”

Why is it that when you give money to people in need, and they say, “God bless you“, or “Have a good day, sir“, it means so much more to me than when I hear it from other, well off people? It is the humbling feeling to hear this from someone who is struggling much more than I, and they still find courage to say “God bless you“. This is very special. I often walk away, thinking, “Wow… I’m sure that God IS going to bless me“…