The End of Rituals...

This morning I am thinking about ritual (defined as - any practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner). Specifically I am thinking about rituals of my past and how they have been affected by modern innovations. And yet it’s not only my rituals that are being affected, they are all of our rituals and sometimes we don’t even notice.
Let me offer a few examples. But first, go ahead and press play on this video as it is the soundtrack to reading this post! lol

When I was a kid, my mom would take me and my sisters down to the local movie store to rent movies. We would walk around looking at the movies by genre. My older sister would check out chick flicks, my other sister would check out teeny bop comedies and I would look for action movies or cartoon action movies. Meanwhile my mom would talk to the lady who worked at the video store. We would bring my mom about 2 movies each and she would tell us to narrow it down to one. We would put one back, she would pay, and we would pop pop corn and take turns watching our movies. It may not seem like a huge deal, but for me, those were great times! Fast forward to 2011 and we have replaced that ritual with one word: Netflix. Meanwhile the last of the video stores (blockbuster) is beginning to close down all of their locations. Goodbye blockbuster nights!
Another example. Since the beginning of time the process went like this: Man saw woman, man was captivated by woman, man approached woman, man talked to woman, man attempted to woo woman, man and woman fell in love, and the rest was history. Then technological innovation came into play and all of that changed! Welcome to the world of online dating! This includes sites such as: zoosk, match.com, plenty of fish, eharmony, perfectmatch.com, etc. This is an outstanding innovation; it makes it easier to meet people in bulk with the comfort of never having to leave home. The problem, it cuts out the ritual! Men no longer have to approach women at the social functions. People no longer have to socialize. Men don’t have to sweat and get nervous as they work up the courage to approach her in front of all her friends to ask her out at the risk her saying no. This is good for gutless guys, but it cuts out all the magic of that moment when she says “yes” when she could have said “no!”
One last example. Whenever I would go to the mall I would always go straight to the music store. I would cross my fingers and hope the CD (or tape, lol) I wanted was there. I would walk (to the back of the store) to the rap section, flip through the various other CD’s, find other CD’s I found interesting, and finally set my eyes on the CD I wanted. I would look at the cover, look at the back, read the track names, walk to the front of the store and pay for the album. When I got home I would rip off the plastic cover, pop the CD into the player, lie in my bed, and read the lyrics, and check out the cover art. For me, this was the most important ritual of my life. And What did we replace it with? Itunes. “Digital cover art.” Music right at your hands that never really touches your hands.
My only question is what’s next? Will they close down movie theaters and have new movies on the internet? Will they close down grocery stores and have it so you can order groceries to be delivered straight to your house (which I wouldn’t doubt they already have). Will they make it so that we get rid of ritual, human warmth, face to face conversation, and friendship? In many ways I feel they already have. Please don’t misunderstand me! I love Itunes, I love Facebook, I even love blogging! But they will never compare to buying a CD at a music store, hanging out with friends/ socializing with people you don’t know, and pouring your heart out to a friend who genuinely cares. I love technology but I wish I didn’t have to trade in the beauty of ritual to get it.
Your opinions? What rituals do you miss? What is the next thing that will be eliminated by technological innovations? Do you like the way things are today or do you prefer the past way of doing things? Do I sound old because of this post? lol