by Scott Archdekin

Created on: May 16, 2010   Last Updated: May 17, 2010

If you can do it, then someone's trying to figure out how to make it easier and simpler. That's how America works. The ipod replaced the walkman, so now we can listen to a million songs without changing a cd or cassette. Most desktops have been replaced with laptops because of its easy mobility and size. Who needs to find a phone booth when everyone has a cell phone?

Email and e-cards has eliminated the need to go to the store, buy a card, put a stamp on it, find the persons address, and put it in the mailbox. The digital camera is so nice because there is no film developing and you can see instantly your pictures. But we're missing out on a lot of stuff by allowing convenience to run our lives.

This past holiday season the internet sold more Christmas gifts then the actual stores did. If you did buy something via computer you didn't have to wait in a line, battle other customers for products that were limited on the shelf, that's true. But did you run into an old classmate while shopping online or a neighbor you've not talked to all year?

And you also missed out on that cute little gift that would've been great for grandpa, but you didn't see it, so you had to settle for yet another Tractor Supply gift card just like every other year.

Sure online makes wrapping it a synch, just left click and they'll wrap it for you. But I don't think I could explain to my brothers and sisters why they didn't have to saw through all the duct tape that they've become accustomed to.

Paying at the pump sounds like a great idea. You get to save time by not having to go inside the store and wait in line; you don't have to be tempted to buy that candy bar that's innocently displayed on the counter. So what are we missing here?

What about the coffee can for the local softball team to go to nationals or the one for neighbor Jon whose house had caught fire just a week earlier or the can that pays for the food and vaccines of Rover the neighborhood dog? All these noble causes that was missed because we didn't have the time to go into the store.

Not to mention that as a kid I loved it when mom or dad would give a twenty dollar bill and say, "hey, go pay for this." Then I'd march across the parking lot, wait in line, and when it was my turn I'd proudly say, "Twenty on pump three." I was being an adult and doing an adult thing.

Sure I couldn't drive and it wasn't my money, but I was in the filling station, without parental supervision paying for gas. My parents gave me that good feeling and I hope to give that to my kids someday.

Vehicles are now becoming so advanced that they tell you exactly when you need to turn left or right. That's great, I guess. But my family vacation wouldn't have been nearly as memorable if dad wouldn't have gotten lost and wound up in Wyoming. "I'll just follow that car; he surely knows where he's going."

It sounded logical enough, and yes, he knew exactly where he was going; too bad it wasn't the same place we were trying to go. But we all had a good laugh and a couple of good pictures with the "Welcome to Wyoming" sign that we would not have had with a Navistar system installed in the van.

In today's hustle and bustle it's hard to pass up many of the conveniences presented to us, but as we advance we need to make sure we don't become so concerned with saving time that it eliminates the little joys in life. Those joys may be minute or, like the Wyoming detour, completely accidental but those are what makes life so unpredictable, special, and worth living.

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