November 13, 2016
11:54 p.m.

Wow, the moon! And tomorrow it will appear to be bigger than it has in decades.

People keep telling me that the moon IS bigger. Nope. Science, people. The moon is the same size--it appears bigger because the moon and the earth as passing closer together in their orbits than they have in decades. Objects appear bigger when they are closer to you than they do when they're further away.

What is it with education these days? Why do people put more faith in Internet memes than in actual scientific evidence? What will it take to get this country back on track with schooling?

When I was a kid, education in the United States was considered some of the best in the world. The USA no longer holds that record.

Why? What happened to this country?

I'd like to think that things could get better, but I have serious doubts; it doesn't seem like very many people actually care.

Music and art are cut from education programs at an alarming rate. Yet, both can contribute considerably to the math skills of students. So, why are they less important than football? It makes no sense!

The majority of schools are cutting the teaching of cursive writing because everyone these days uses a keyboard. How are the generations to come ever going to be able to read historical documents?

Penmanship is a thing of the past. I don't think my grandchildren have ever hand-written a letter or addressed an envelope. Everything is a text, and most of those are filled with misspelled words, incorrect punctuation and grammatically incorrect usage.

How are they going to get jobs when they won't even be able to write a resume?

Speaking of resumes, whatever happened to walking into an establishment, meeting the owner or manager face to face and asking for a job? Everything has to be done through a website; there's nothing personal about the process these days. Frankly, I don't really want to apply for a job anywhere that I can't go into in person and meet the people I'll be working for. Instead, I'm required to submit everything online, and the first people who contact me likely have never set foot in the establishment I'd work at.

I don't much care for the world we've created with our technology. It intimidates and frightens me. I feel that it makes it easier to treat each other badly. People think they can't really hurt or be hurt by those they never see. Cyber bullying? There's still a person behind that tech persona, and that person can still hurt or be hurt. Just because you don't witness that hurt face to face doesn't mean it doesn't happen.

Face to face interaction is going away; I have seen kids sit side by side on a sofa and text each other on their phones rather than interacting. It makes me crazy.

Here's a Thanksgiving plan for you: collect all the phones at the door, or at the very least, get every guest to agree that those phones will be used ONLY to take pictures. No calls, no texting. Eat your meal, talk to each other. Interact.

At the end of the meal, if you REALLY MUST, send your out-of-town family and friends a nice video greeting from everyone. Just one.

Here's my challenge: three whole hours without a tweet, text message, Facebook upload, phone call. Three hours. Then do your video, if you must. When you get home, share your pictures. Tell your friends about your food.

Most of all, tell them about the conversations you were able to have because you decided to shut down the tech for a little while and be people who look each other in the eye and share a connection that uses no plug-in.

After that little experiment, try it again at Christmas. And feel free to share your results with me--I'm really interested to see how it all works out. You might find out that Grandma has had a really interesting life, and that your uncle was a hero. You might find out that your cousin is a bit of an ass--but how would you know if all you ever saw was the memes he shares about football?

Get to know the people you should be getting to know. Unplug and enjoy them.

I challenge you: do it! See what you learn.

That's what I've been thinking about lately, and for me it will be easy, because I'll be with my folks for the holiday, and they're already unplugged.

I'm looking forward to it.

Good night.