I read the news today, oh boy! If you read Danny Westneat’s column in the Sunday Seattle Times you would have learned that the UW School of Communications removed most of the landline telephones from the building. Just a couple of admin lines remain.

Think about that for a minute! Telephones removed from the School of Communications!

It reminds me of a short story I read years ago in a literature class at the very same UW. It was called “The Machine Stops” by E.M. Forster, also the author of “Howards End” and “Room with a View.”

I was blown away when I first read it. Forster’s vision of the future was stunningly accurate. And as each year passes, the story becomes more real.

“The Machine Stops,” written in 1909, is about a society that lives underground in individual cubicles. The people get all of their daily needs including food, air, light, information, etc. through the machine. To communicate with another person, you push a button and the person you are calling pops up on a screen and you converse through the machine! Remember it was written in 1909!

It’s a compelling tale about a son who lives on the other side of the world wants to see his mother again in person. This idea makes the mother extremely anxious because it’s against the rules of the machine. But the son suspects something is wrong with the machine and he wants to reconnect with his mother regardless of the consequences. It’s about the son’s journey and the unintended consequences of depending on the machine.

I won’t spoil the ending for you. Besides, I think the story is still unfolding.

When I read the news about the phones at UW, I was reminded again about how it might happen that we could lose the social skill of talking to one another face to face.

Have an in-person conversation with someone today, and tomorrow, and the next day. Use it or lose it!!!