Facebook

It's happening for all of us. Facebook is giving us an opportunity to reconnect with people from every stage of our lives. Like the WKRP theme says, I've moved from town to town, up and down the dial (http://www.classictvhits.com/sounds.php?showid=225. ) I have Facebook friends in the two places I consider my hometowns, Oberlin, OH and Somerset, NJ. From my high school boyfriend to the vice president in the corner office, Facebook is a mix of people from every city, state and town of my journey। Facebook has brought back memories of every school I've attended (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSyNygUTOF4) and every organization I've ever joined (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/de/DeltaSigmaTheta.svg/465px-DeltaSigmaTheta.svg.png&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DeltaSigmaTheta.svg&usg=__e74asTQS3e9DeXTCD4pEfx9Bc6I=&h=599&w=465&sz=111&hl=en&start=13&um=1&tbnid=2GxSalUxDAXSMM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3Ddelta%2Bsigma%2Btheta%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1). Those memories are good and not-so-good. Cue the violins... I was a chubby girl with a mom who had VERY limited hair styling skills. It was the dreaded playground double whammy. There are kids who enjoy having an easy target. One of my Facebook friends, Kent, was one of those kids.

I realized I hadn't let go of my Kent trauma the moment he friended me. This was a guy who told our 5th grade teacher that he didn't want to square dance with me because my hair looked funny! In 6th grade he stopped calling me Ramona and switched to, "Big Fat Mona Rock" and "KoolAid" (I know you want to bellow "OH YEAH" right now. Go ahead, you can't help it). I finally had enough and decided to mouth off to him on the bus in middle school. Kent beat me up. Imagine the WTH? when I got a Friend Request. I know you've felt it too! One of the cool girls from high school Friends you. Fifteen years ago you weren't awesome enough to be her friend. Girls who wouldn't have thought about giving you their phone number in high school, are now sending you flirty Facebook messages, even though your relationship status says "married." Facebook can be a real Melrose Place!

It can also be the place where you put those high school rivalries aside and get a little closure. While I feared Kent had finally found me and was looking to harrass me as an adult, it turns out that he writes funny stuff on my wall sometimes. I haven't seen any prison pictures so he might actually be a productive citizen these days. It took years to figure out Kent's strategy. If he was taunting me then no one was taunting him. I can't say I blame him for doing everything in his power to keep Mooch off his back. Mooch was hard core.

Thank you, Kent. I now employ your strategy at work when the guys in the studio start cracking jokes. We call it "The Wheel of Abuse," the only way to survive is to spin it onto somebody else. I've learned valuable lessons from many of my Facebook friends. You were just a really, REALLY tough teacher.

Kent, I officially forgive you for the giant dents you poked into my self esteem. I think its time to finally let it go. Second of all, you were right, there were/are some KoolAid similarities. OH YEAH! (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.evilscale.com/images/7222007114551pm.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.evilscale.com/vote.aspx%3Fnomineeid%3D309&usg=__tT6yfZGvkYby9zEfIkxohQT1Hrk=&h=320&w=300&sz=63&hl=en&start=19&um=1&tbnid=tYeJxy8BI7Ix8M:&tbnh=118&tbnw=111&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkool%2Baid%2Bmascot%26hl%3Den%26um%3D1)