Friends and Strangers

"Facebook is for friends that have become strangers, Twitter is for strangers that should be your friends." -Unknown

I am not an overly social guy. That's probably an understatement, actually. The truth is that most of the time, I'd much rather be hibernating in my home than spending time with people outside of my family. Throughout high school and college I had many friends, but only a select few that I ever made an effort to hang out with. Over time even those friendships have evaporated, either due to distance or in one case because the guy slept with my girlfriend. What ever happened to Bro's before Ho's?

Anyhow, the inspiration for today's post here is yet another facebook friend request from yet another douchebag I went to highschool with. I graduated 15 years ago and in the time since I probably have spoken with (either in person or online) approximately three percent of my class. In the past five years, that numbers is probably half as high. I don't mind catching up with old friends though, quite the opposite actually, but the issue I have is with the people on facebook who think we should be "friends" despite the fact that we haven't seen nor spoken to each other is a decade and a half AND when we weren't ever friends in the first place, even when we shared a school.

If I didn't give a shit about you in high school (and I assume you didn't give a shit about me either), why in the world would I care to share my profile with you today?

Maybe it's the sheer prestige of having 350+ "friends" that makes them feel better about their own lives, I don't know. Maybe they've found God and want to give me their testimony. Maybe they've hit the lottery and want someone to give the money to. I don't know their motivation for contacting me out of the 15-year blue and I don't care to find out. I don't need a high friend count to justify my existence, nor do I want one.

I use facebook because my wife uses facebook (religiously, but not spiritually) and I want to see all the pictures she posts of the kids, and also to keep aware of when she bashes me to her friends as she did this weekend. (That's okay Baby, I ain't mad at you.) I do not use it to keep up with guys and girls that I once had a biology class with in tenth grade. I didn't care what you were doing then and I don't care what you're doing now, so please stop asking for my acceptance.

I am facebook friends with several people I went to high school and college with and I do interact with some of them from time to time. It's not that's I'm against keeping in touch with friends or former friends, but the key element is that we had to have been friends at some point if you expect me to have any interest in you or your life.

So to the randoms that appear in my online world on occasion, looking to boost their friend count, I have only the following to say: I have far too much going on in my own life to waste time giving a shit about yours.