I am not embarrassed to admit that I watched inaugural festivities (on and off…okay, mostly on) for about 12 hours on Tuesday. Everything was fascinating, including what was for lunch at the Inaugural Luncheon and the Obamas dancing at the balls (although Michelle’s gown was too long and I felt bad for her, having to fling it out of the way every few dance steps). I even found those moving vans outside the White House to be fascinating. Since I was watching online at CNN/Facebook, it was a very different experience for me. So many of us were watching alone in our homes or offices or home offices, but at the same time we weren’t completely isolated because we could update our Facebook status on the side of the screen and see what everyone else was writing. We were able to connect with each other on that important day.
Something like this would have never been possible a few years ago, younger neighbors. I know it’s hard for you to imagine a world without the Internet, but that world existed and we lived in it. We did things like write letters and go to the library to find stuff out and call back when we got a busy signal (which is still the case with my phone, actually). We made mix tapes from the radio and pressed rewind on our Walkman if we wanted to hear a song over. We only watched what was on TV at the time we wanted to watch something.
Dude. It was an entirely different world.
Now we have things like Facebook. We can connect with people we would normally never connect with. Or reconnect with. Which is fine for days like Tuesday or if you really want to find someone. But what about people you never want to see again?
The weird thing about this new world of hi-tech reality is that people I went to high school with can find me. Including people I never talked to. Which is fine because we’re older and nostalgia tends to wash past events in peaceful pastel watercolors and it’s all good. I sent friend requests to some kids I wasn’t friends with because I’m wondering what they’re doing now. But here’s the thing. There are some people I just don’t want to have a virtual reunion with. Especially this one girl.
Let’s call her…Sally. Sally was so mean to me I cannot even tell you. She wouldn’t let me sit at her table in lunch. She made fun of my discount clothes. When she talked to me, she never looked me in the eye. Her line of sight always hovered somewhere above my right eyebrow. She spewed negativity. So no, Sally. I will not be accepting your friend request. Your friend request is a joke. However, it’s been fun reconnecting with everyone else, regardless of whether or not we were friends. And the thing we mostly write on each other’s walls? Is how weird it is to reconnect like this, using a format we never imagined back then.
Team Technology, you win this round.
Susane Colasanti - Blog 