The Life of Riley – Have We Forgotten How to Have Fun?

Jerry Riley

I was watching the History Channel’s presentation of the story of the Disney theme parks. Near the end of the program one of the anachronistic engineers said we are always looking for new ways to entertain our guests. My mind raced, well raced might not be accurate, back to the old Dick Van Dyke show where the parents were arguing about resisting social pressure by not renting an amusement park for a child’s birthday party.

These two things reminded me of some Facebook posts about how when we were kids we had no cellphones, no computers or video games, but we had fun – and unknowingly, exercised.

I’ve said it before, that we are allowing technology to take over, not only our business life but, it seems, also our recreational lives. Technology is depriving us of many skills we will need when the power grid fails. Yes, I said when, not if, and what a revoltin’ development this is!

We are the most obese nation in the world. We are also one of the laziest! We spend a lot of money on exercise equipment that often goes unused. You drive everyplace. Yes, I changed from “we” to “you” because I walk more than I drive so I could not use “we” in that instance.

Kids spend hours playing adventure games on a video screen. As Leonard on The Big Bang Theory chides his friends who are playing adventure video games, they will likely not accompany him on a real quest.

Jerry Riley comments for the Chronicle. He is a retired telecommunications supervisor. © 2015 All Rights Reserved