Dogs Don’t Like Virtual Reality

Being a snow day I did not have much guilt about watching the Sunday morning and night news shows. Church was canceled so I just stayed in bed where it was warm and snuggly with Shay Shay. She seems to really like the staying home of snow days, but not the snow.
On multiple shows today there were different segments about Virtual Reality. Seems that the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas this last week was full of all things Virtual. We were not one of the homes this Christmas who got a VR headset, but I have tried the cardboard version that was sent to our house by the Wall Street Journal. Yes it is cool to be able to see under water without having to go to all the trouble to get certified to dive, but doing it with a VR headset on is a lonely experience. Not that you can have a good conversation under water either.
Humans are finding more and more ways to do things alone. We no longer have to go to stores. Everything you could ever need is available online. Not that shopping is an experience I really liked, but at least it was contact of the human kind. People are working virtually more than ever. Yes, I find offices to be unproductive, what with all those people to talk to. It is a good thing I don’t have an office, no one there might get any work done with me around.
I hear in the olden days people got together in the evening and played cards. Now I play words with friends on my phone. At least there are real people on the other end, but usually we just play and don’t “talk.”
I am worried that as more and more of life goes virtual we are going to become less and less good at being human. I also fear that our pets are getting left behind in this virtual world. Shay would prefer one of her humans to play with her, but if we are all too busy with our devices she is left with her toys. You can see how happy her virtual friends make her. Not one of them can rub her belly.
I am not suggesting we need a dog petting robot, just more real human time. I know I am old and not the target audience for these virtual reality devices, which makes me more scared about the new generations to be able to have real human relationships. Life needs to be real, skip the virtual reality and go out and sled down a real hill. Hey, bring your dog with you.