I got on Face Book again today. It has become a constant in my life since I am not able to get out socializing and going to work. I am depending on the people on this crazy social media to provide friendship, caring, and understanding when it is not there. Internally I know I shouldn’t do this; that these people, most of them, are not really there for me, they are there to rant and rave their own lives.
Really, that is what is all comes down to, a person’s post is their little bit a fame as their picture or icon is next to whatever they post, and they are saying something. It is like saying, “Look how funny I am” while I steal another person or sites joke and post it as mine; or, “Look how in touch with what is going on I am” while I post what Michael Savage wrote on his blog or Bloomberg published on theirs.
In another way it is sad, as people, and I include myself in this, can get a sense of being part of doing something to better the world by just ‘liking’ or ‘sharing’ a post. I wrote a few Congressmen and women about horses being taken off BLM land and the potential for these horses to be slaughtered and used as a commodity meat product to export (or use in some of our fancier restaurants). I also re-posted posts for missing children, and cats that needed homes.
I thought I was raising awareness of what was going on with our government, only to realize no one was paying attention. I have tolerated other’s opinions about same sex marriage or bonding; right, left, tea party, liberal, conservative politics; guns and no guns politics; and Christian, Buddhist, and other religions and faiths. I have seen so many pictures of pretty flowers; cute puppies (which I might add never had a Bichon Frise!) and cute kittens; pretty houses; islands I will never visit; and places in the world I will never set my passport down in. Elvis has been bombarding the pages at times, which I just scroll over. Recipes which are so unhealthy for a person have been constantly shared, as if there is no thought to what all that milk, bacon, beef, and other ingredients are doing to the body. On the other hand, I have read so many pages of what all kinds of good food can do for a body; looked at charts of Reflexology for the feet and hands; seen comparisons of this food against the other like it; and how to get healthy treatments for things we normally get prescriptions. I have been patient with the content.
Maybe I was mistaken, but I was under the impression the social media sites were to bring the world closer to us, to allow us to communicate quickly, and with many people at the same time, what was on our minds. I also thought with this, since the people I have been friending seem to think we are going about governing our nation all wrong, that these same people would see the benefits of bridging the distance between our localities. For instance: When I bought some Lupus wrist bands, I didn’t realize I was getting 10 for the price I paid. Thus I wrote on Face Book I had extra Lupus wrist bands, and if anyone wanted one, they could write me in private and let me know their address to mail it to. I didn’t ask for any money, I mean it was only a rubber wrist band, and I was never going to have 10 people to give them to while I am not able to go anywhere. One person wrote me in private, and I gladly mailed her a wrist band. She was thrilled and thanked me. That was it. I have worn mine to death, so I guess I have 8 more to wear out. I asked a friend who specifically stated in their post some thing I liked when they had them on a few years ago were on sale at a local (for them) store, to get me a some. I told them to tell me how much it would cost, as they were advertised at a Dollar Store. I received a rather terse note back saying that they should be around me since they are where they are. I was hurt, as apparently this person hasn’t paid the least bit of attention to any of the reason I have been on Face Book so often.
I have often told of how I am waiting for a Disability decision so I can determine if I am going to be able to have knee surgery or not. I need it really bad as everything I do is extremely painful, and I am mostly stuck in my bedroom because of my knee problems and because I have blood clots in my legs. I have been to four doctors now who all agree I need the knee surgery, and quite possibly back surgery as well due to my legs being off-set. I had a total knee relocation in ’95 which has caused a ¾ inch difference between my legs, thus making me walk a little crooked affecting my hips and my back. So, it is not like I am sitting on my ass not doing anything, just waiting for a free ride or something from the government. I have a myriad of doctors seeing the same problem, and all recommending the same resolve. Until then, I can do nothing: I cannot look for a job; I cannot work under the table since I am not lying about my conditions; and I cannot go to work. Now I have had to write about all my problems again, AND I AM DAMN TIRED OF EXPLAINING MYSELF ALL THE TIME. WHY CAN'T PEOPLE JUST BE NICE AND GIVE A LITTLE WITHOUT AN EXPLANATION OF WHY I NEED OR WHY I AM ASKSING?
I am not happy about this situation, but there it is. So, back to Face Book and the friends I thought I had there. Well, let’s just say they aren’t there unless you want to discuss online what they believe in. If you want to discuss something above and beyond their post, they ignore your comments, or then there are the ‘haters’ who write shit about everything. I have de-friended now quite a few people. Either they didn’t ever write back to anything I said; they were rude in comments; their beliefs went over the edge to being downright pushy and crude to others who were not of their specific belief; or they ranted about stuff which they had no facts for, just opinions. I hate to do that, because it feels so final. Some of these people I have never met, we just became friends while playing games on FB a few years ago, and so it was not really any loss to them or me, unless they were counting how many friends they had. Some of these people I have known personally, and de-friending them was like turning my back on them.
For a long time now I have been reading a friend’s posts which have gotten more and more radical as time went along. When I first knew this person, they did not like a particular radio show and another of my friends did and listened to it a lot. It was always a sticking point between the two of them when they would talk, as one didn’t believe the rants of one talk show host whereas the other didn’t believe the other’s talk show host’s point of view. Then all of the sudden, I mean within this year, this person is quoting the talk show host they never would agree with before. I have to admit, I didn’t even like the talk show guy as his rants were often to religious and there were even times he would take a whole show and read scripture, not even talk about current events. I just thought that was a little much. But, now this guy who used to play basketball with lesbians, and report it was really fun, now hates gays. This guy is all over being a Christian but I know for a fact he looks at porn on the computer quite a bit. Lastly, when he has a post for something that is selling there and I really wanted while I was in that State and I ask him how much he wants to get me some, the private email came back rather rude. So, much for the friendship I thought we had. I guess it was purely one sided: if I wanted to believe and re-post what he did, then I was okay, but if not, well…
So, at the end of this rant, I have de-friended him. I am tired of the excessive rants from the talk show host I can’t stand, tired of the extreme views on Christianity, the down right meanness in some of his posts about particular people (which by the way is so not Christian behavior), and now he can’t even show a little friendship by helping me out when I even request to know how much it will cost. I was not asking him to foot the bill, or go out of his way, as I know he will be going to this store anyway. It was just inconsiderate and selfish. For him to rant about how our Nation is in such trouble and the government is to blame, then he can’t reach out just a bit for a friend who he has known personally, this is not the way to cure the ill of our Nation. Some of the problem is government, no doubt, but we still have to do our part and try to be a community of humans who care about each other. That selfish attitude gets us no where. So, while he rants about people being on welfare, illegal’s taking all our money, he sits in his ivory tower with his talk show host, and looks down on all of us like we do not belong to his race. I guess I don’t belong to his race, as my race would try and help a person, before blaming society and government for all the ills of the Nation.
A friend shared a poignant video with me on FB the other day, and it was just this point. One person helps another, then that person who was just helped helps someone else, and it goes on. I think there was a movie about it even called Pay it Forward. Now he is going to get pissed when some guy cuts him off in traffic, or a person is rude to him in a store, and it will be karma, dude, and simple karma. What goes out must come back. This has been proven so many times, I can’t believe some people still have their head up their butt. We are all connected, whether I am in California and he is in New York
I have made my choice that while I am stuck basically in this 9 x 10 room I will not tolerate people throwing bad karma my way. I guess that is why I am down so many friends. But you know what; I was never counting in the first place. I have one really good friend, who I know will be with me no matter what each of us believes, so I am good.
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