I am currently sitting in Panera right now while I write this, bumming the free Wi-Fi and drinking a frozen lemonade. While I look around, I notice just about everyone here is on their laptops, tablets, or phones. Mind you, this is a place with free Wi-Fi, so maybe that has something to do with this abundance of electronic use, but still.

We have lost the gift of communication. There. I said it. People suck at communicating. We can't hang out with our friends without whipping out our phones. Yes, phones have made communicating easier, but it's also diminished the art of being able to strike up a conversation with anyone you see.

Now, I'm not saying talk to all strangers because "stranger danger" and all of that. But, being able to talk to someone at the bus stop or someone sitting next to you in class takes some skill. However, that hardly ever happens since our eyes are glued to our phones. How can we expect to meet new people if we don't make an effort to try?

My jobs this summer have made me accustomed to striking up conversations with just about anybody. They don't need to be deep, heartfelt conversations. They just need to be something that shows the other person that you are personable. Networking people! That's how you could get jobs in the future. Who's going to want to hire someone who struggles to even hold a five minute discussion about themselves? No one!

Have you ever spent a day away from your phone and any other form of technology? No? Then you really haven't lived. A few weeks ago, my family and I went up to my aunt and uncle's cottage at a lake. With no phone or computer. What! And you know what? It was one of the best day trips just because we spent time talking to family and playing in the lake. You can't play in a lake with a phone.

Now, I'm not saying all of you are bad and I'm a great person. I can't go anywhere without my phone. It is my lifeline. I wish I had the self-control to just leave my phone in my room and go on an adventure. You have no excuse as our parents and grandparents all lived without technology and they survived.

So, I challenge you. Put down your phone for just one day. Go out and meet people and have fun. Yeah, you might be awkward, but, honestly, who isn't? Do you want to turn into technology zombies who only function by feeding off of phones? Don't prove one of the most genius minds (Albert Einstein) wrong: "I fear that technology will surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots."