World's last man...

not on facebook. I like having this little corner office in the world. Out of curiosity, I randomly flipped through some profiles, I think I could get through my entire high school in three degrees of facebook separation. A month before high school graduation, I confided in Trim that I would miss high school. He assured me I would find a way to keep in touch with those I wanted to, and the people I never really wanted to hang around with would disappear. Working in a high school now, I constantly wonder why anyone would facebook.

Every few years, randomly show up in the lives of people who have inspired me. I always see the same thing. They may have grown wealthy, or happy, or struggled, but they never actually changed. They are the great parents I knew they would always be, or the transcendent contemplative wandering spirits they always were. The clothes changes, often they put on or dropped weight, wrinkles may have appeared or disappeared, but angstroms under the surface, the same great person is still right there. Same thought process, same personality, slightly different looking.

They usually have beautiful and happy children, but I could have told you that would happen without having to look them up. Sometimes I try to find them and their lives have become so busy that they can't hit pause for a few minutes. Even in the silence, I can still the same great kid from second grade pretending to be an adult. I know if were to randomly see Trim today he may look ever so slightly changed. Sure, he would have figured out some things about life, the perfect way to woo a woman, and somethings would still be an absolute mystery to him, like his inability to accept humanities collective insanity.

I think of facebook as passing those same people again in the hall. You exchange some pleasantries, ask about life, knowing it's awesome before you even ask, then move on to your own office, or whatever important meeting you have on your agenda. I stay in my office as the world is down the hall, interacting in this giant social network that is so alien to me. I can only assume the fact that I'm not on facebook signifies some social deviancy within me that is absent in almost everyone else. And dropping in on people's lives over the years has also taught me that when you show up unannounced, you often get the same great reception as the prodigal son.