The Old Fashioned Way

   Classical music isn't my thing. So why did I attend the performance of a stringed duet?
   It happened last week inside our town's library. I took along my elderly mother. Showing her a good time wasn't my only motivation.
   I did it to socialize with townsfolk. The evening was fun. I chatted with new people during the intermission and afterwards.
   During my childhood, a grange hall stood down the street. Adults hung out there. As more adults hooked up to television, fewer of them visited the grange. It closed. A parking lot replaced it.
   How sad.
   Decades passed. Now we've got a new library. It includes a community room. Cultural events are scheduled. Last Friday's concert was the debut. Twenty-five people showed up. Not a lot but a start.
  Nowadays, social media is all the rage. I haven't hopped on that bandwagon.
  This might sound laughable, but I predict that people will eventually tire of social media. They'll venture forth from their electronic cocoons. They'll seek out new acquaintances and friends the old fashioned way, face to face. They'll be startled by how fulfilling this approach can be.
   Who know, perhaps that concert last week represents the tip of a social movement that's ebbing under the radar.