8 July
I suppose after 17 years of military service, I shouldn’t be surprised when I run into old friends in unexpected places. This week, I crossed paths with a couple of military buddies in Kabul.
Quite a few years back, I worked in the Army recruiting world. A lot of great sergeants worked for me but I haven’t seen too many of them since I left that assignment. As I was walking through our chow hall, I saw one of my former recruiters sitting by himself. It was such a surprise to cross paths with him. He just completed his tour in Afghanistan and was waiting for a flight out. We sat and chatted for a good half hour.
My other run-in with old friends was more planned. A couple of great friends from my college days were attending a coordination conference in Kabul right next to the headquarters I work in. I knew they would be there, so we made a point of linking up. I think it has been close to 10 years since I’ve hung out with them, but like most military friendships, you pick up pretty quick where you left off. We got to have dinner together and promised to get together again soon, if possible.
It is always fun when you get to catch up with old friends. Before I deployed, I made a point of having dinner with my best friend from high school. I also got to spend some good time with another one of my college buddies (who happened to marry the girl I took to high school prom, REALLY small world.) In the age of social media, we often defer the long term connections because the short bits needed to ‘stay in touch’ are so easy. A couple of years ago, I told a new friend that I was not a huge fan of social media because I prefer the face to face connections that make relationships more meaningful. Since then, I’ve explored social media more and more, and while I still prefer face to face relationships, I now understand the value and the power that social media has brought to our world.
I’ve been reading a book called Smart Mobs by Howard Rheingold, originally written 10 years ago. Its all about the social revolution that mobile communicative technology could bring about. He wasn’t trying to predict the future but he was trying to point out the trends that cell phones, texting, wifi, and other technologies were taking and how certain social interactions were starting to change. In his book, he discusses criticisms of these trends and he hit on a key aspect for why face to face connections are still important. “Human discourse without eye contact has its dangers.”
So, while I’m now a fan of social media and have actually professionally studied it to some degree, I will always lean towards the face to face connections that provide the defining moments of our lives. Here’s to using social media to enhance the real world, not replace it!
DGW
A long year 