Back then, I lived in the Virginia countryside with cows for neighbors, and an egg run could fill a morning.

The produce stand on the corner belonged to a man everyone called the Corn Man, and I never left with just corn. I got the weather, the local news and his opinion on both. The owner of the only gas station for miles had me figured out. He knew I liked to see how far past E the needle could go, so he made sure I kept a spare gas can in my SUV. And my favorite bank teller asked about my kids before she asked for my deposit slip.

None of them were family or close friends. They were my supporting cast, and every errand came with a walk across a parking lot and a few minutes of conversation.

That cake emergency goes differently today. I’d open Instacart, tap “eggs” and have a dozen at my door in under an hour, before the butter softened. Gas? Pay at the pump. The bank? There’s an app for that. The Corn Man would have to text me.

I’m not complaining. Convenience gives many of us time to fit even more into our busy schedules. But most of us don’t realize how many conversations and everyday movements we’ve traded away, one tap at a time. That goes for 25-year-olds as much as 75-year-olds.

The government has been keeping score. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ American Time Use Survey found that Americans 15 and older spent an average of 47 minutes a day socializing face to face in 2003.

By 2025, that was down to 35 minutes. Young people saw a larger drop: those ages 15 to 24 went from 61 minutes a day to 35.

Some of those conversations are now happening with machines. Pew Research Center found that one in five adults under 30 use AI chatbots for emotional support or advice. The friend you call when the day goes sideways may now live on your phone.

And the steps? My Apple Watch counts every one of them, and I take a lot of them alone.

Services continue to evolve, and a few are headed our way. In June, Walmart and Wing, the drone company owned by Google’s parent Alphabet, named Salt Lake City one of seven new metro areas for drone delivery. Wing’s drones fly up to 60 mph and lower packages by tether to a front yard, porch or driveway, sometimes within 30 minutes. There’s no launch date yet, but you can join the waitlist at wing.com/walmart. Once it arrives, people do use it: Wing says a quarter of its customers order three times a week.

Your prescriptions can skip the pharmacy line too. Amazon said its same-day prescription deliveries grew fivefold in the first half of this year.

And if a drone overhead isn’t enough, DoorDash is testing Dot, a delivery robot that stands about 4 1/2 feet tall and rides in bike lanes at up to 20 mph. It’s rolling around the Phoenix area for now. Give it time.

So here’s my suggestion: Take stock. Grab a notebook and list the services you use in a typical week: grocery delivery, takeout apps, pharmacy delivery, online banking, self-checkout, pay at the pump, a chatbot you talk things through with. Next to each one, write down what it replaced. A trip to the store. A chat with a cashier. A call to your sister. The walk across the parking lot.

Then make replacements. Keep the conveniences you value and add something back for each one. If groceries come to your door, walk the farmers market on Saturday and get to know a vendor. Your own Corn Man is out there. If you bank online, take the long route on your evening walk and invite a neighbor. If you find yourself working through a problem with a chatbot, call a friend about it too. Use self-checkout when you’re rushed and the cashier’s lane when you’re not.

Aim to replace what you lost with the same amount or more. Count conversations along with your steps. A day with three short chats with people outside your household is a good day.

Leslie Meredith has been writing about technology for more than a decade. As a mom of four, value, usefulness and online safety take priority. Have a question? Email Leslie at asklesliemeredith@gmail.com.