Are we as a world just getting lazier and lazier? I don’t mean physically as such, I mean more in general, it’s not exactly an age-old debate as it’s only recently started coming about. Things are “getting quicker” but is that because we are lazy or is it because we don’t have the time to spend doing “slow” things.

For example, today I have sent some emails to a couple of old mates because I am shit bored at work. It was only 10-15 years ago that I would spend an evening writing letters to my ‘pen pals’ I loved having pen pals, I loved writing letters when I was younger (Jesus, why does that sound like such a girly thing?) but I would write to everyone, well, I don’t think I ever wrote to a bloke but I wrote to loads of females!! I enjoyed it, the excitement of getting a new letter was really cool and now the only letters I get are more poxy bills or loan companies offering me superb introductory interest rates! (SOMEBODY SEND ME A LETTER………….;-)

These days though, even if I was to write a letter I’d probably do it in Word and print it off – is that lazy? Or is it ease of convenience? My writing is shocking at the best of times so I suppose it makes it more legible but I don’t send letters to anyone anymore and in a way it saddens me, I had some great friends that I would write to all the time, some of them I still speak to but more on an ad-hoc basis rather than the once a week/month letter we used to exchange. I’m taking this down two different paths, the first of which is my friend Lisa Gentle we would write constantly, all the bloody time, I must have sent and received about 100 letters over a period of about 5/6 years I’m sure if I looked hard enough in my old stuff there would be an old letter with her address on it somewhere and I could write to her but part of me can’t be bothered because its in the past and the past should always stay where it is but I do wonder how she is doing every now and then. Also and this is the second path, part of my brain says “Surely she would be on the internet somewhere by now” by that I mean she must have a profile on Facebook, myspace, bebo, friends reunited or something!! Yet try as I might I can’t find her, is it lazy on my part that I can’t be bothered to find her address or lazy on hers that she hasn’t caught up with the modern age yet and joined facebook like 30 million other people in the world? I don’t know which?

However, despite their being 30 million people signed up to facebook, I don’t feel a need to be friends with them all, yes if people add me as a friend I’ll accept them I’m not bothered about it really but why are people adding me as a friend when really, we never spoke at all, one girl is my “Friend” on facebook, she didn’t really like me and I wasn’t overly fond of her, I thought she was too much of a wannabe, she was sweet enough just a bit dumb. I haven’t spoken to her in over 10 years and despite adding me as a friend its likely to be another 10 at least before speaking to her again, I don’t see the point? If you’re not really friends with someone why add them? Again, it goes back to laziness, all of my close friends from school apart from a couple are now just “Virtual friends” They will poke me on facebook, so I’ll poke back, if they are too lazy to write anything on my wall then I’m dammed if I’m gonna write anything on theres! I’ll try and write on people’s walls but again part of me really can’t be bothered, what’s the point in all honesty?
All that is ever said is “HI, long time no speak, how are you” of course it’s a long time – there’s probably a reason you don’t talk anymore – the world moved on! If you read their profile though you’ll pretty much find out how they are, married, kids, divorced, lotto millionaire, hooker, so there you go, no need to ask the question anymore and that’s that, back to being a virtual friend!!
I wont say all bad things about Facebook though as I think it’s a great site and those friends who I have lost contact with who I might not have wanted to I can still stay in touch with, if they are signed up, one of my best mates emigrated to America, Facebook gives me the chance to still chat to her and view pictures of how she is doing – though she really shouldn’t have cut her hair short!! Another one of my mates is married with child now and I kept forgetting her child’s name (and the sex of said child!!), which kept on earning me a virtual slapping but now its on Facebook, I wont forget, Joshua….. See, imprinted in my head!!

But has it all been invented because we are just getting more and more lazier? One of my mates lives in Reading, bit of a trek for me, likewise for him in this direction so we hardly see each other anymore at all, last time I saw him was November last year, spoke to him via his wall on facebook and the odd email – but what’s wrong with picking up a phone and saying “Fancy a beer?” Is it just Britain where we have this obsession with virtual friends? I’m as guilty as the next man for not seeing my friends enough, I’ll openly admit it but how do you change the spiral you’re in without convincing others to do the same thing? We should have a “National turn off your computers day” Think of the energy saved and all the things you could do instead!

And yet I say this as I am writing a blog, on my computer……………it’s a strange, strange world………….