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The older man rolled over in bed and looked at the alarm clock. It was 9 in the morning and he was still tired. This surprised him as he had gone to bed early the previous night. Rolling on his back he stared up at the ceiling and wondered why he was tired. He was getting older, but no longer had to work, so it wasn’t that. Younger people had to work and this explained why they were tired. People with small children had to care for them, bring them to activities, escort them to doctors’ appointments, and care for the household. Just thinking of this made the older man tired. Today, young people seem to have trouble getting their priorities straight. With all the electronic machinery and flood of information constantly bombarding them he understood why it was so difficult. Rolling over his feet hit the floor and he was finally up. Walking down the hall he entered the kitchen and immediately put on the coffee. Heading back down the hall he went into the bathroom, showered, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and headed back to the kitchen. The coffee was still brewing so he sat down at the kitchen table. The memories began to flood his mind as he stared down at the table. The kitchen table was where the family gathered every night to share the meal of the day. Here, there was lots of laughter, great stories, companionship, love, and the bonding of the family unit. Today, more and more families don’t eat together. The kitchen table has become another piece of empty furniture. The dinner mostly is fast food picked up on the way home. When it arrives the people disperse to their own spaces and eat alone. Then they work on their computers, play games, talk on their cell phones or text, and go to bed. Human interaction has been replaced by machine interaction. The coffee maker beeped and the older man came out of his reverie. Rising, he headed toward the coffee machine, as he poured his first cup of coffee his tiredness seemed to dissipate.