Worlds Collide

There are many drawbacks to getting on Facebook including that doing so made me somewhat hypocritical (but that's nothing new for Rambler fans, Grande Drip, anyone?).

Another drawback is the past mistakes/regrets in your face aspect to Facebook. Hell, I've got two ex-girlfriends and a few other one-nighters as friends. Some are married now, others not. Some I'd still like to nail again, others not. But I don't really need to know what they're all doing at any given moment.

Which brings me to the biggest pain. I know I'm not the first to babble about this shit but, what do you do when someone you are not really friends with asks to friend you? Some are former co-workers. Others are friends of friends. Of course, I can ignore the request but unfortunately I was raised to actually respond to people who reach out to me. And if I say no to someone, could it not come back and bite me in the ass later in a professional setting?

I'd love to be able to say "no, you are more of a 'Linked In' friend and maybe that can be a new option for Facebook. The bigger the "friend universe" gets, the more likely worlds are going to start colliding.

As a general rule, I don't really get all that personal on Facebook. Unlike my 15 year-old nephew who doesn't mind boasting of his makeout conquests or having his girlfriends leave video for him there (if his folks only knew, poor deluded upper westside liberals asleep at the wheel), I am still of a generation that feels that discretion is an under-appreciated aspect.

I know, discretion? You're kidding right? But I view this place like the 91st Street station on the 1-2-3 line. If you've ever been on that line, you might have noticed a closed station between 86th and 96th. It has platforms and graffiti but has been shuttered since 1959, those who know it's there can gaze at it and remember the old days and get all romantic and those who don't know it's there don't see it anyway.