Don’t know exactly how old the saying ‘two’s company; three’s a crowd’ is … but just about every one has heard it at some stage or other.
It’s based on the conventional (read 19/20th century) wisdom that a ‘crowd’ can become an uncomfortably large group who's size and behaviour cannot be controlled where as a get together of just two people is usually much more intimate and enjoyable.
Wikipedia example: “I was hoping just you and I would see the movie. Why did you have to bring your sister? Two's company; three's a crowd!”
Of course this does not require a couple of any particular gender and often refers to pairs of friends rather than sexual partners.
But with nearly 40% of households in this country now only having a single adult occupant perhaps one of the biggest social question in 21st century Australia will be: where are all the ‘twos’ going to?
It’s a big question alright and I don’t pretend to know the answer but what I can say is that computer technology / internet can provide substitutes for physical company.
I’m not referring here to ‘avatars’ i.e. pure digital creations in 3D – but real people brought into the house utilising web based technology.
Only this Saturday morning I woke early (for a weekend) to video-Skype my wife who is visiting my elder daughter in London (8.00am here is 11.00pm in the UK).
As it would happen the broadband was crap (we really must upgrade from our budget package) so the voice quality/latency was poor and for some other reason she could not see me but I could see her.
Having said all that I must say this was much worse than usual but it is a glimpse of the communications future utilising really fast broadband technology and there is no doubt in my mind that actually seeing someone on the other end is a 1,000% better than just hearing their voice.
Is it a substitute for the real thing, I hear you ask?
No. It’s more like grabbing a snack rather than sitting down to a full meal … but it is a damn sight better than starving!
For the record: I understand there is a movement known as ‘slow food’, originally founded in Italy as a resistance organisation to combat the spread of fast food, and since 1986 it has expanded globally to over 83,000 members in 122 countries.
If this is all they can achieve in 20 years I think we have to recognise that fast food is here to stay and in an increasingly ‘time poor’ society such as ours where fast food is the norm and waiting for real food to be prepared is a much less common occurrence (or even preference) you also have to ask: is our appetite for long term physically based ‘one on one’ human relationships also changing?
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Dear Andrew
As baby boomers ourselves, not only that we are being ripped off by the Rudd government but we have to keep on working to help our children that in turn have to work ridiculous time and hours to support they young families, as grand parents we feel obligated to not only help financially but also with baby seating picking our grand children up from school. (With a lot of love and hugs)
When will we retire and have time to enjoy all the past hard work of bringing up our own children???
Kind Regards
Yolande Fitzgerald | 
