Facebook & Karma Unite

Today I want to talk about the dreaded "u" word: Unfriending. For any of you who haven't yet created a Facebook profile, unfriending is what you do after you change your mind about adding someone as a friend. It's ugly business.

In recent months I've been unfriended on Facebook a number of times. A political conversation on my page pissed two people off enough to dump me. I knew why right away. One of them took it a step further and blocked me. Thanks for reinforcing my opinions about tea baggers.

Others dumped me for no apparent reason. Wild asses from my past, old running buds who have since found religion, and a certain type of dumbass redneck apparently disprove of my lifestyle too much to remain friends. We wouldn't have anything to talk about anyway.

I ain't gonna lie. Being removed from someone's friend list, even someone I don't especially like, stings. I blame them but always wonder what I did.

Of course, most of you know I sorta have it coming. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn I'm in the top 100 unfrienders of all time. Last March I clicked "remove" to dump about a third of my Facebook friends.

Saying I didn't know what I was doing would be a lie. I knew. hehehe There was a reason for each and every one.

The mistake was friending certain people in the first place. Being a tad competitive, I thought the goal was to have more friends than anyone else. I happily befriended strangers, acquaintances and people I barely knew like they were long lost pals.

Getting to know some people better doesn't improve the relationship. I don't accept friend requests from coworkers, period. Reconnecting with old party pals can be risky. When you're trashed enough, little things like psychopathic tendencies can slip through the cracks.

I thought last March's massive unfriending episode was behind me. But in the last few days, posts from the previously unfriended have been appearing on my wall. It's creepy--like Facebook is somehow taunting...

The Crotchety Old Man