Today I had to make a purchase. While looking into it, I discovered that a European electronics chain had the same price as the well-known group that delivers things to your door. I placed the order. Five minutes later, the item was ready for pickup. In the afternoon, I went there at my leisure. No risk of loss or theft, no courier tossing it into the garden without care. A kind young man handed it to me and innocently asked if I needed help setting it up. All at the same price, but with many more smiles and the awareness that I contributed to my “neighbor’s” paycheck.

The older I get, the more I believe that true modernity is valuing human connection.