Loose Change

Scene: A long shadowy corridor. A monitor flickers in the distance. Begin V.O.

Times change. People change. And by “change” I mean “move on.”

Relationships often come with a natural sell-by date that’s nobody’s fault. Maybe everyone graduated, or somebody left the company or the city. Children can make a difference, as can sobriety or the lack thereof. New relationships can choke out the old.

The point is that people, for whatever reason, move on.

Intro over. Lights up. Cue Facebook theme song for foreshadowing & background music.

In ye olden days, there were visible signs that yes, the times had changed and someone had been cut loose.

First there would be a delay in returning phone calls (this was pre-texting, my darling children) Invitations would be declined and later ignored. Birthday and Christmas cards would stop appearing.

That much is the same now. The difference is that back then we didn’t have Facebook.

Music cue: Old time-y organ pounding out da da DAAAAH!

Montage: Your own FB TL. Yes, yours.

Take a good look. When was the last time you saw some of these people?

If you happened to be visiting their town, would you arrange to hang out? Would they call you if they were going to be nearby?

No?

Then why the hell do you know so much about their lives?

That’s rhetorical. Facebook, obviously. This is what it’s for.

In my case, Facebook is for finding out that someone who cut me loose has had a catastrophic personal tragedy. She moved on, so I have to respect that and not offer sympathy, support or even soup. No matter what the protocol is, I can’t bring myself to “like” a sad status.

In case you were wondering why I avoid Facebook, this is just another example.

Cue Oingo Boingo: “Goodbye-Goodbye”