Is there anyone out there?

You are now entering the workforce. Many of you will begin your careers in another state. In doing so, many of you will separate from your girl- or boyfriends. Alone, you will journey to another part of the country, away from family and friends, where you know no one.

Imagine your coworkers, most of whom will have families to go home to and little interest in “hanging out after work.” Perhaps this will describe all your coworkers, subordinates, and boss. It’s certainly feasible. You will be new, and younger, and perhaps hold political and religious opinions that differ too far from their own for them to accept.

Your separate schedules will impede upon your ability to telephone your parents. You trade emails, wondering how many will it take to forget the sound of Dad’s voice.

You keep tabs with your friends by using Facebook, or perhaps some fresher, more distant form of communication. You will try to make new friends. Perhaps you will search for a local writer’s workshop, only to discover that the only ones available are online. You will decide to meet people by returning to school and learning a new language, only to discover that these classes are also online. The clubs and bars will be half empty. The people who would inhabit them are at home, clicking away on a keyboard and staring, mesmerized, into a glowing screen, the only source of light in their bedrooms.

When you require help with something (fixing your toaster oven, let’s say), you will consult with a virtual assistant, with whom you will communicate online. Or you could submit your questions on Yahoo Answers. If that doesn’t work, a recording is only a phone call away. You can probably find the number on the box in which the toaster oven arrived.

Technology will fill your life with wondrous conveniences. Your letters and bills will arrive by email, so you won’t have to answer the door for the mailman. The gate to your apartment complex will be automated, so you will not have to speak to a guard. After parking your car, you will approach the door to your building, which opens automatically, so you won’t have to tip a doorman on Christmas. You can download books, so you will never again have to step inside a crowded bookstore. No need to locate a coffee shop. Your apartment comes with a coffee and cappuccino machine. The microwave will erase your need of restaurants. You can even gamble online, download movies at the press of a button, raise a virtual pet, and really get to know the cast of the television program, Big Brother. Like sports? Buy a Playstation.

You will shop for those few items you cannot locate online. At the store, if you have questions concerning an item for sale, you can scan that item using one of the many scanners scattered across the aisles. The scanner’s screen will answer your question. The checkout lanes will be automated.

You will have to start paying back your student loans, so seeing the family for the holidays is a financial impossibility. Rest assured, though. You will receive several voice mails—it is a special occasion, after all.