Ditch the Stamps

No need to keep stamps, envelops, post cards, or letters in my desk drawer. A cell phone and a computer take the place.

After spending 18 years living at home with my parents, it’s difficult to grow completely independent in college. So, I’ve resorted to calling them on a daily basis.

Communication with family is much different today than our parents’ generation. Our parents never had Facebook, Skype, Twitter or cell phones.

They survived on the United States postal service and once-a-week, long-distance telephone calls made from public payphone booths with a handful of quarters.

I am slightly embarrassed — and ashamed to admit — I would be lost without technology.

Technology now has replaced the loads of letters my parents sent and received through the mail. Over Thanksgiving break, my grandparents shared stories at the dinner table about when their children, my dad and his siblings, went away to school. In one story they described how they’re used to only be one phone per dorm hall.

I’m not sure how my parents did it. Not sure what I would do if my phone or computer broke and I wasn’t able to communicate with anyone, check e-mail or update Twitter throughout the day.

I’m addicted to technology, but it also eases the transition from home to campus life.