If you can't beat 'em...

No one has called in weeks. I know, because I’m keeping a list. In my mind. What has happened to my friend Lisa, for instance, from high school? She used to call me a few times a week, like a stalker. And my own sister?  She lives in Chicago (I’m in Boston) and we’ve been playing phone tag forever. When she leaves a message, she always says, “I’m so, so busy but try me (insert day) night. I’ll be home then.” But when I call, she doesn’t answer.

For a while, I was feeling depressed about all this. I mean, when everyone seems to drop off the face of the earth at once, it can be kind of disconcerting. And lonely.

But then, after talking to my father on the phone recently (he’s the only one who still calls, god bless him, although he tells me the same stories about his doctor’s appointments every time as he doesn’t have much going on), I think I figured out what the issue is. It’s not actually a conspiracy against me. Nor am I a horrible person that no one wants to associate with anymore (or maybe I am but for the sake of this entry let’s pretend I’m not).

Nope. As I was talking to my dad, he happened to mention that my sister, age 50, recently told him how much fun she is having on Facebook. Yes, Facebook.

I am on Facebook too, sort of. I’ve avoided using it primarily because I am frightened it would suck up too much of my time. However after hearing this news from my father, I needed to investigate.

It seems that yes, while too busy to pick up the phone to call me, my sister is communicating with folks from her past on Facebook every day. She is taking quizzes along the lines of “Which Decade Are You?” and “Which Pin Up Are You?”

At first I was hurt and in the style of a Jewish mother (which I suppose I am now) I sent her a message on Facebook that said, “What…you’re too busy to call but you can spend all day taking quizzes on Facebook?!”

I noticed that other friends I rarely hear from were busy posting messages and taking quizzes on there too. There was something powerful going on here, and I knew I didn’t stand a chance if I remained committed to my outmoded methods of communication like my cell phone, and even email.

So I decided to experiment.

Like someone who had been standing on the water’s edge for too long, I decided to stick my toes in. I wrote on two people’s walls. I posted two pictures. Within the next five minutes, I had comments from old colleagues and friends! I could see how someone might become addicted. I immediately felt less alone.

Hey, I resisted the cell phone for years until my car broke down on the Merritt Parkway in CT and I had to walk miles to the nearest pay phone. Perhaps the time has come to give in to changing technology once again. Besides, how else will I ever know which pin up I truly am??