Today, students from Eastern Michigan University are calling for Americans to take part in a National Day of Unplugging. In another announcement, Governor Richard Snyder of Michigan stated that the city of Detroit is calling in an “emergency manager” to lead it out of its financial disaster. Detroit has $14 billion in long-term liabilities and is experiencing annual cash shortfalls. Why are Michiganders unplugging just when their biggest city is coming unglued? Am I the only one who finds this ironic?

However, news outlets everywhere, including old faithful USA Today, are giving sizable editorial coverage to Eastern Michigan University’s Unplug event.

Inspired by the Old Testament, the 24-hour National Day of Unplugging began on Friday. People everywhere are encouraged to slow the hectic pace of their lives by disconnecting their electronic devices and reconnecting with each other.

The campaign precludes making phone calls, checking emails, texting, and posting on social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc. It has already been reported that thousands of people across the United States are going to abide.

The pithiest quote about the 24-hour period, in my opinion, came from Davy Rothbart, the founder of Found Magazine of Ann Arbor, who said, “For me, unplugging for the day is a way to remember how I interacted with the world before I had my smart phone stapled to my jawbone.”

I didn’t hear about the National Day of Unplugging until this morning. While it doesn’t bother me at all, I am of the opinion that it unfairly implies some people still feel the Internet and all the devices that came along with it are a bad thing.

When I hear family and friends tell me that the Internet has taken away our social and writing skills, I think of the many folks I knew before the digital age who never knew how to interact with others and could not string a sentence together.

Just this morning as I entered my office building for another day of work, I thought to myself, “I could be home in bed.” Then I thought if I had to work in any era possible, how lucky I was to be around for the digital revolution. Every day I discover something new, someone teaches me something, and I get to teach something to someone else. Trust me, this would not be happening in the kitchen, on the golf course, or in Bloomingdale’s.