I find it almost unbelievable when Jay Leno, David Lettermen or even Bill O’Reilly talk to young people “On the Street” and they don’t even know who we were fighting against in World War Two. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, we have documentary programs every year and we show the Germans worshiping Hitler and talk about the millions put to death in concentration camps and these young people honestly don’t know?

I recall a family get-to-gather I was at where us older generation was all sitting around talking about politics, what’s happening in world affairs, what the future may hold for the younger generation and stuff like that. Of course the younger ones had to sit right there around the table, so they don’t miss out on anything, right?

Well, the entire evening there was 4 to 5 of them at any time sitting around “texting” and playing with their cell phones and never asking a question about anything. It was refreshing just to hear one make a short comment about something… ANYTHING!

Young folks don’t seem to have much concern about the economy, national debt, Iraq, Iran, the Middle East in general or anything else going on in our political system.

They do seem to perk-up to defend the gay life style, liberation of marijuana laws and abortion rights… but that’s understandable as the television shows, schools and news media keep in on the front burner most of the time.

Religion and faith doesn’t seem to be a part of their lives, living together without marriage seems to be the acceptable thing and planning for the future doesn’t seem to be a priority either. While worrying about terrorism seems to be absent, when we were young, we worried and thought plenty about an “A bomb” hitting us from somewhere any time.

The Cell phone that turned into a computer smart phone seems to be about the most important thing in young people’s lives… and yes, it’s spilling over onto us seniors. The kids are not playing dodge ball, stickball or hide and seek. They are not playing ditch-um on bikes or building a fort. They are not playing in the streets and back yards of neighborhoods… they are texting, glued to a computer or in front of a TV or game box most of the time. It’s catching on for sure, the parents went from cells to smart phones and many seniors are following suit.

I have one of those smart phones. I can look up history in a minute. I can multiply big numbers with its calculator, and call anyone on my list…I guess we don’t need history, it’s at our fingertips, like speed-dial phone numbers; But I don’t remember anyone’s phone number any more, are smart phones making us dumb?