I’m someone who subscribes to magazines - physical, paper magazines that come in the mail. I like my magazines, and I look forward to them and I read them cover to cover. I miss my daily newspaper, but it was too expensive to continue on a daily basis. I fear that all magazines, newspapers, and the related will end up on the internet, and we’ll be getting everything from our phones. Yuk. I’m already too attached to my phone and I really don’t want to be tied to it any more than I am.
I was driving with my nephew this past weekend in Des Moines. We went through neighborhoods I’ve never been to before and was shocked to find a bunch of empty storefronts. A lot of Toys-R-Us and K-Marts and other national retail stores that closed. I think Amazon Prime did them in; I’m just as guilty, I use the internet to buy stuff daily. I told him that hospitals will be the same someday. As inpatient stays become shorter and shorter, the need for big hospitals and their many hospital beds will reduce, and we will be stuck in with a glut. Will hospitals be the next Toys-R-Us?
So the world is changing. I envision a world of people sitting at home staring at our phones, shopping and interacting via screen. Or we can interact with each other. We can shop our local retailers. We can read magazines and limit our screen time. We can attempt to be proactive and go out of our ways to approach each other and interact*. Suggestion: In this season of holiday joy and festivities, and planning for resolutions and changes for the upcoming year, hug more - screen less.
*Monica Christensen came back to Iowa Specialty Hospitals & Clinics and instantly raised the average on the “hugging” incidents.
