I think I might be scared to see what the future holds for things that bring me so much joy.

I walked into Barnes & Noble today for the first time in about six months; and while the overall essence of scents of coffee and presence of literature and story-book endings had remained how I had remembered them, a few things had changed that put a small anchor on the joy inside me. First of all, the familiar vision of expanding aisles to countless rows of books was blocked by a flashy booth selling e-books. Don’t get me wrong, I think new technology can be great and I guess I’m respectful to the people who get their joy out of these. But I guess my personal opinion is different. The day I trade in the palpable pages and crackable spines of the books I’ve occupied so much of my time with for a thin, cold piece of technology is the day I lose a part of me.

After making my way past that obstacle, not much else had changed since the last time I saw it. But as I was nearing the edge of the fiction section and edging towards the children section, something seemed out of place. Primary colored plastic toys and childish trinkets and baubles had replaced a small part of the children’s section which one held books with cardboard pages. I understand that toddlers who are still dribbling probably find more joy out of things they can throw around rather than sitting stilly and having their parents read meaningless words to them out of pages. But if children don’t learn to appreciate books at such a young age when their little brains are absorbing the most information, when will they?

Anyway, I was feeling much too old for my age as I was glaring at these toys and worrying about the upcoming generation, so I made my way to the music section. This didn’t help. And it surprised me, because I figured that at least the most technologically-driven portion of the bookstore would have remained the same, but it hadn’t. When I glanced over to the spot where I used to peruse through CDs, it had been replaced by countless Blu-rays and DVDs that I don’t - and never will - care about. The CD section had been stuffed into a little corner because apparently, the new and expanding general public doesn’t care about having their music on hard copies of CDs when it could be accessible to them with a click of mouse.

And then I started to get upset. And as I’m writing this, I’m getting more upset. Because what happens when the computers fail and the iPods and e-books break? What happens when the small but too-significant pieces of technology are lost, and so is the whole music and book collection? What happens when future generations want to flip through Daddy’s old records, but all Daddy has to give them is a piece of metal? What happens when future generations don’t even know what a record is and don’t even know what an old book smells like?

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I see what’s happening to the world and I think I’m scared for the future. I don’t want my future children to be lacking a bookshelf in their room, and I don’t want them to be unable to experience that initial joy of hastily taking off the plastic covering a new CD. I don’t want any child to have a piece of technology shoved in their face when they’re wondering what kind of music their parents listened to when their parents were their age. Because computers crash. Batteries die. Technology breaks. But a book or a CD that you can hold can last a lifetime. I just really wish the world would realize this before it’s too late.