Thanks to sites like Facebook, we no longer think about the people closest to us and make sure we remember their birthdays. Now, we just wait for Facebook to remind us of who’s birthday it is so we can all receive thoughtless birthday wishes from our 500 closest friends.

I’ve always taken pride in reserving the mental space to remember the birthdays of people I really care about. As Valentine’s Day levels the playing field for those not thoughtful enough to acknowledge that special someone without having to be told, Facebook cheapens real, remembered birthday wishes by piling on a bunch of thoughtless ones from people you friended 10 years ago that you don’t even remember.

Because of this, I’ve found that I now have to text or call in birthday wishes first thing in the morning to beat the Facebook alert email that tells everyone else to “let Timmy know you’re thinking about them on their birthday.”

I realize we’re all digitizing ourselves as the humanity just pours out the bottom of society, but I’d rather use my brain space on people and things that are important to me than outsource my feelings to one of our soulless social media tools.

If you hear from me on your birthday, know that it’s because I made the effort to remember.

And sorry if my call or text wakes you up…