Not Lost In Translation

A few weekends ago, our older daughter Kt found herself talking with some people who didn't speak a lick of English. This was in Coney Island, NY, when she was serving with a team of students and most of the people they talked to either spoke Russian or Chinese. Their goal that day was to ask people if they needed basic supplies - food, water, space heaters, and blankets. Since she had no idea what these people were saying, she did what everyone else would think to do. She whipped our her iPhone and started using Google Translate.

Actually, for those of us over the age of 30, we probably wouldn't think of doing that. Instead, we would have walked off disappointed and/or frustrated about the lack of connection and our inability to help. Digital natives think about technology very differently. After all, what's the worst that could happen.

For all the talk about Snapchat and how our kids don't have the ability to carry on conversations and how Twitter makes us shallow thinkers, there is an upside. A few minutes later, a little Chinese lady shows up at the church a few blocks away looking for two of those free heaters.