How old were you when you first chatted with someone online?

I was 14. I remember it pretty perfectly. It was in a computer lab with a dozen people or so, we all knew each other and were playing around with this new technology called the internet. Ever heard of it? It's pretty cool and has a lot of uses, however, people seem to use it in the most mundane ways.

For instance, back in 1994, we were a group in a computer lab, chatting with each other and having fun with chat rooms. We'd send a message, then look at the person, who would laugh, and look back at me. It was fun, but I remember how ridiculous it was, talking to people online when they were literally a few feet away. But it was new technology, and we were just having fun with it.

Flash forward 20 years. I'm sitting in a restaurant with a group of people. We're all friends, so it wasn't like an awkward dinner with a bunch of strangers and a few people who were friends with each other. This girl sitting next to me pulled out her phone and texted a guy a question about a ride but he was sitting across the table. I saw her send the text and asked her why she didn't just shout across the table. It wasn't like we were all quiet or anything. She said he was too far and this was easier. Seriously? Pulling out a phone and punching virtual keys is easier than just talking?

So I yelled across the table to the guy that he has a text and should look at his phone. He pulled it out, looked at the girls text, and then nodded. Easy. I looked at her and shook my head, and I think I muttered something in the lines of, "fucking millennials." It reminded me of that day we were all chatting away online with people in the same room. The ridiculous situation that was just fun and funny, has now become the norm on how people live their lives. Like seriously, people are texting others who are only a few feet away, rather than verbally talking. This is the direction the world is spinning towards.