Thursday 22 March 2012

Unfriending on Facebook

A friend posted as part of her status that she is saddened by how people dismiss their friends with just a click of the mouse.  No phone call, no face to face encounter, not even a "Dear John" letter.  I have also been musing on this topic for some time.

First of all, there are as many different FB styles as there are different people!  I, for one, choose my friends on FB with care and consideration.  If you are my FB friend, you have either been a friend for years or you are someone that I appreciate and want to get to know better.  There are others who just want to see how many friends they can have on FB.... they could be your brother's friends' cousin's girlfriend's aunt for all they care.  It's just an opportunity to connect with people.  And then there are those that fall somewhere in between.

Second, there are people who manage their friends list on a regular basis.  For example, if you didn't wish them Happy Birthday, bye bye! (on a side note, if you use the FB iPod app that I use, you will probably miss lots of birthdays because they are buried inside the events menu... not as easy as on the desktop version where birthdays are announced in bold on the right hand side of your newsfeed)

Third, I wonder how many people out there know that you can manage your newsfeed.  If you are tired of hearing my posts about the weather and how I am becoming a Hobbit by eating breakfast for 3 meals a day... You can hide me from the Newsfeed.  We are still friends.  I still see your updates, but in order to see mine, you must actually go to my wall/timeline... Whatever it is currently called.

Fourth, sometimes it is FB's fault and accidents happen.  During a particular day, your friend count can fluctuate on FB for no apparent reason.  One day, my friend got a phone call from her friend asking why she had disappeared from FB.  My friend was in shock.  She had never deleted that person.  All is well because someone picked up the phone.  Then there is my cousin.  We still have no clue what happened. Not only did I get deleted, his account actually blocked me....If I hadn't found other methods of communication, our only chance to talk would be Christmas cards!

So, before you unfriend someone on FB, take the time to think about it and maybe pick up the phone and give them a quick call.  Friends are precious.

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Am I really busy?


I just had a conversation with a friend and she got me thinking....

I am a mom of 2 boys.  I'm a full-time paramedic.  I am the wife of a farmer....
Ok, so it sounds like a lot.  I also help out at church occasionally, usually as a substitute pianist.
I am part of a book club that meets once per month and I usually have the book read on time or early.  In the spring, I am part of the chorus in a Gilbert and Sullivan production.  Other than the theater and work, nothing I do  requires me to be away from home on a specific evening every week.

Where do I find the time to do all that I do?

Part of it is not feeling guilty about the things that I am not good at and therefore just "get by"... Housekeeping is one area!  My house is cluttered and more often than not, not dusted!

Also, my husband was a successful farmer for years before we met and married.  As a farmer's wife, I do the cooking.  Nope, no barn chores for this girl.  Not because I don't want to help but I am a slow learner and when we have time for me to learn, we usually finally have time to do something as a family.  (going out for dinner, etc.)  Therefore, teaching me slows him down... Sometimes it's just better to be a support from afar.  This might not work for others but it works for us.

Another part of the equation is that I have a great job!  Moments of sheer terror followed by days of boredom, or in my case: a chance to read, knit or crochet!  When I talk to students about my job, I tell them that they do need to cultivate some sort of pastime.  Seriously, being a paramedic involves lots of waiting around.

Well, I  had better go and get a few things done around here.... I totally forgot to water my plants on Saturday. They are probably really thirsty!