Friends, friends, friends
We will always be….
So went the popular song – popular that is in summer camp – and usually sung on the last night of the summer holiday as we all, sadly, faced a full year of school, and for many of us a full year away from one another as we lived in different towns and went to different schools.
In those “ancient times” most people had one phone line at home – land of course – and only a couple of actual phone sets – so privacy was in a funny way not unlike today.
More importantly – calls were expensive – the minute clock ticked – so someone a few miles away, but in a different county, was for all intents and purposes as far away as the moon.
But we managed – and somehow relationships stayed strong – friendships grew – and time and distance meant little, and there we were again the next year – in a circle – arms linked – singing “Friends, friends, friends….”
Today we have Facebook, Skype, IM, Twitter, email and mobile phones, and all you need is a connection – but do we have more connectivity? That is the human linkage…people relationships.
Today I am linked to hundreds of people who went to the summer camp I attended – don’t know most of them – some before my time, some after—but we share pictures and remembrances and news, and I have to admit I do look at most of the postings – something I don’t do usually – but I do so in the event someone I know has surfaced. So my “friend” circle has expanded with names I don’t recognize and people I have not reached out to.
On the other hand – in my inner circle of close friends from those summers – are Zelly and Waz and D and J and a handful of others – all of whom I have kept up with all these years – from the time we saw each other only over the summers till today – sometimes going months without contact – but nevertheless first-circle, close-in real friends – the kind who pick you up at the airport in the middle of the night – even if they aren’t on Facebook.
I was inspired by a piece I read on the plane – in GQ of all places – in their “Tech” column – the heading goes:
“Honey, This Face Time Is Torture/If you’ve ever suffered through a long-distance relationship, you’re familiar with the painful mix of love, longing and resentment. But technology was supposed to make it so much easier. So why am iLonely?”
All of which lead me to this – listen:
“I have lost friends, some by death…others through sheer inability to cross the street.”
Virginia Woolf
Here is the question – are you crossing the street?
I have pointed out before that Facebook is all about crossing the street today – so why not learn from the masters?
And please cross the street…
What do you think?
