My family and I all love Forrest Gump. It’s a heartwarming and inspiring tale of overcoming adversity, and recently it was the focus of conversation at the dinner table. More specifically, we were talking about his famous run across America, and eventually someone asked exactly how long he ran for. Dad insisted that it was six years, but the rest of us weren’t so sure. You can pretty much gather that we argue over some very trivial things in our house! To resolve the situation, we consulted the same thing we always do – Google. Whilst it is one of the most influential achievements of the past 20 years, I get the feeling it’s a bit too influential among us in particular.

Whenever we want to know something, Google is out quicker than you can say “Ask Jeeves”, and usually because of Mum and Dad. I should make clear that I’m not annoyed by the fact we use Google, just by what we use it for. It’s gotten to the point where we can’t be unsure of anything without an iPhone (other phones are available) intervening. It doesn’t matter how small the subject is, it’s always deemed to be Internet search-worthy. Usually, I’m all for acquiring useless pieces of general knowledge because you never know when they might come in handy, but sometimes we search for answers to things I JUST DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT MUCH. “Does Paul Robinson from Neighbours have an older sister?” I love the show, but I’m not bothered. Nothing can just pass by, and sometimes it feels like it’s being used as a tool to force conversation – or to make my parents look cool, because it gives them an opportunity to use the speech recognition on their phones (and this is usually a massive letdown).

Don’t let your family banter become cringeworthy this Christmas – only Google when it is a life or death situation. My conscience is clear, and yours can be too. Read this post, and save a life. 😉

Mason