Every hack, opportunist, and pseudo-celebrity has a digital mainline to your heart and soul. Insidiously they steal your privacy-shape-tastes and political opinions. Jangling ring tones and loud talkers commanding unwanted attention while strolling furiously through the mall. I swore that would never be me. Promise broken ...it turns out you can be found anywhere. As I scrambled to cut off my blaring Mozart ring tone, disconcerted by the unwanted summons I ducked into a corner for privacy only to realize it was the dreaded phone predator, also known as the telemarketers.

Eating at an antiquated Denny’s replete with ripped faux leather seats I observed the digital zombies around me. The art of conversation was surely dying, very few tables, fully engaged. Harried moms and dads, kids engrossed in texting, tablets, and even laptops. At the malfunctioning checkout register, I endeavored to make the pimply faced cashiers' life easier by handing over forty dollars and a dime. I watched as his face dissolved in confusion and his mind disappeared into a black hole. God, how did we survive before all this technology? After an awkward pause in which I saw the kid perform mental gymnastics, Simone Biles would have loved a manager stepped in to put him out of his misery.

Recently a teacher friend lamented the fact that her students writing skills were so non-existent. The texting era has ushered in a new level of laziness leaving us a video game kids barely able to string a sentence together.

Does the TV season ever end? You used to be able to count on a regular schedule. However, that is no longer the case. Mid-season breaks and replacements and a fusillade of new shows on networks such as Netflix. Marital bonds suffer as couples binge watch and bicker if a spouse sneaks a peek at the next: “Ozarks” episode. Bleary-eyed coworkers limp into work devastated by an endless loop of viewing ...with endless streaming across numerous platforms and devices we are losing sight of our common humanity as we splinter into digital spheres. Next thing, Artificial Intelligence. AI! I think I know how this movie ends.