Hey, I have Facebook!

     Friendsters I passed up. No amount of invites from friends made me succumb to what they  call “social networking”!  Networking for me sounds too much like multi-level marketing and I am truly not into that type of pyramid selling! 

     Facebook was a different ball game!   Curiosity just got the better of me.  Eldest Daughter swore she would disown me if I created a Facebook  account!  What do I care!  Maybe if I disown her too, it would just offset the damage!  Ha-ha-hah!   I just wanted to know what was there and what the excitement was about!  With the little techie knowledge I possessed,  I created a Facebook account!  Look!  I did it without any help!  Told my kids to stay away from my account!  Of course, the first thing they did as soon as they found out I had Facebook was to request to be on my friends list.  May be their way to keep a watchful eye over their mother’s  online behavior.   It  amazes me that they could be so gullible as to think that I can refrain from embarrassing them online when I find no problem embarrassing them in person! 

    

     Then I discovered the Facebook games – Farmtown specifically!   It was interactive.  A term I got to understand where you could talk and interact with those on the same game.  I made friends there especially when I went to the game’s market.  I got to know many persons – real or not, alias and all.  Some turned out to be eleven year-olds who were staying late at night playing and not doing their homework.  Some were really just as wacky as I and we found ourselves taking on chores in the same farm and singing as we harvested.  You know, you type out the song you’re singing and they join in and type along - my idea of fun!  There I met, Cindy, a lady trucker.  Her occupation sounded quite strange to me since where I come from, truck drivers are all male.  Never met or heard of a lady truck driver before.  In my eyes, Cindy is a special breed.  At any rate, dear Cindy and I got to talking about our lives and shared stories every now and then.  We wanted to time our game to go on simultaneously but I was erratic and she needed to work hard so we just enjoyed the times when we were online at the same time.  There were occasions when we would hang around my pond at the Farmtown and chat.  It’s like watching comics except that you can make the character say what you want it to say. 

     Eldest Daughter freaked and was practically smoking when she found out I had online friends.  She started enumerating the dangers of befriending people I didn’t know, about identity theft, and oh about a hundred different things I never worry about.  The Hubby, as usual, came to my defense by asking how much different making online friends could be from picking up strangers in the streets when I walked the dogs.  Arriving home with a couple of unknown monks in tow, picking  up a lost Australian couple, inviting bill collectors for morning coffee, letting in those Mormon gentlemen for an early Sunday chat and hosting overnight stays for strange students from strange lands – these had always been part of my modus operandi!    What made them think I would have changed by now?

     So with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, my online adventures continue.  Found myself some kindred spirits who are politically active and vociferous; and they supply me daily with news and current political developments.  I continue to enjoy my online games which produced more online friends that Cindy and Cindy alone recommended.  The latter is my one concession to Eldest Daughter’s worries.  Found my college friends and my high school classmates found me!  Who belongs to college or high school is starting to confuse me.  Relatives, too, have become   easier to find and contact.  One nephew of the Hubby requested to be friends even without having met us.  He randomly typed out those with the same family name and he just found himself all the relatives he could have for a lifetime.   Family reunions and even parties have become easier to facilitate.  Friends  we have not seen for quite some time have been nagging to meet up! 

     It’s been a hilarious two years with Facebook despite my fear of the impending Timeline that may have me groping in my own account.  I must thank Mark Zuckerberg for his genius.  After all, through him, I continually network socially for fun and entertainment!  It’s the best way to keep Mr. Alzheimer away!