Sep 6, 2015 2 min read

My grandmother is 102 years old and her sister is 92. I visit them occasionally and we talk about my kids or what life was like when they were younger. People don’t talk to each other anymore and everybody is a stranger, even your neighbors, they tell me.

That leads me to the editorial in the Friday edition of the Observer-Reporter, “100 years ago, people needed other people,” which is so true. I will take it one step further and say not only do people not need each other today, but they also don’t want to interact other than through e-mail, text messaging, Facebook, Twitter or other electronic means.

One of my favorite things to do is go grocery shopping on Saturday mornings. It’s a task most people dread because there are so many people with whom you have to interact. Which is why I enjoy it. I particularly like it when I get to ask somebody if they would like to split a bag of cherries, since a whole bag is expensive and nobody eats a whole bag anyway.

Next is the trip over to the deli line. Usually, if I see an elderly person waiting in line I give them my number so they can go before me. As I proceed to the meat department, I always talk to the woman who works there. She gives me updates on her grandchildren and it puts a smile on her face. There usually is a very old woman who is pushing a buggy around the store with this lost look on her face. I help her walk around the store getting the items she needs. I also get to see pictures of her family, and she shows me the $50 she won playing bingo the other day. Sometimes, I even walk her through the checkout line, help bag her groceries and take them out to her car as well. I then get to walk back into the grocery store and do it all over again.

The point is, put down the cellphone. Shut off the computer. Interact with other human beings on a face-to-face basis. You would be amazed how interesting people can be.

Dom Broglia

Canonsburg