The future now

Have you read the sci-fi books by Issac Asimov? They are very good, but thats not what i'm going to talk about. There is series of 3ish books that involve the same main protagonist who lives in the future where everyone in the world lives in giant bubble cities, where apartments farther from the dome are more expensive because people have developed a phobia of the outside world, and never go there. I thought this was a little fanciful.
The other day I was eating lunch on a bench outside of a library, leaning on the giant glass walls separating the hall I was sitting in from a courtyard. It is a very nice courtyard- with neat antique-looking cobbles and mythical sculptures of dragons and knights and that sort of thing. It was a very nice day out, about 50 degrees, with little wind. There was a man sitting on a bench a few yards down from mine, the adult kind of person who you can tell has a job and responsibilities and takes these things seriously. Anywho, I see him pack up his laptop, with some trepidation, glancing around nervously, like he's afraid some Orwellian thought police might pop up and ask him with a cheery-but-dangerous smile, "You wouldn't happen to be having original thoughts now, would we?" He then, with his jacket slung non-optimally under his arm, makes his way to the door to the courtyard. I realize as he reaches the door that he intends to go outside and enjoy the day, much to my surprise. I glance around the courtyard to make sure there wasn't any more likely reason for him to venture outside- but there is no "serious people who don't have time to enjoy the little things in life" membership booth in sight.
He opens the door.
He puts one foot over the threshold.
He peers awkwardly around the the glass door, rather than look through it, perhaps to give the impression that he has seen a horrendous but well timed monster which will give him an excuse to do what he does next.
With a pause generated by a level of indecision ordinarily not scene outside of a build your own burger line, he steps back inside, beating an embarrassed retreat back to his bench.
He need not be ashamed- his actions will be nothing short of heroic in a thousand years time, and even now his rare idealism is something we could all do with a little more of.