Setting: The boots deck at Neptune Mountaineering

Customer comes back to boot deck. A family, two kids, son and daughter. Father off looking at tents, mom needs some new hiking shoes. We size her up, get her a cool pair of shoes fit for hiking in the hills yet stylish enough to wear around town and not look like a fool. A nice balance.

We have a video on, some telemark skiing flick to pass the time. Mom asks me for advice on a good hike for the family. The kids are youngish – maybe ten – so I recommend they check out Lost Lake. Not too tough a route, nice flowers, good waterfall, cool lake for a picnic. They buy a map and the shoes. The mom goes to the kids, who are watching the video, and enthusiastically says, "hey kids, lets go on this cool hike up to the lake."

The kids start pouting. "We're watching TV. Hiking is stupid." They ask the mom how long the drive is. "About 45 minutes," she replies. The sister turns to the brother and says…"Hey, that's good – we can watch T.V. in the car while we drive."And off they go.

What have we become, and what are we becoming?