I'm not quite sure how several people in my life actually entered it.
Of course, there's family which has always been there and will always be there, no matter what you say or do or how much you protest. There're friends you met in school decades ago and new friends made with each move to a different city. This is normal.
But, where did the rest of the cast in my life come from? How did it begin that I have regular visits with my Ronald Coleman-esque neighbor? Why was it that my tiny, elderly "paperboy", who rode his bike everywhere with his pantlegs strapped with bungie cords, left a note explaining to me that his pastor advised him not to join a "hard rock band" as their drummer?
I've given up trying to explain to anyone over 50 how you can be friends with someone online (in a non-creepy way) whom you've never and may never meet face to face. When I try and rewind back to initial contact to explain, it's usually something like, "Well, there was a discussion on a podcast message board about sci-fi inventions that have become realities..." or, even more awkwardly, "I was following their tweets once they were following mine...". The more I explain, the more their expressions of blankness start clouding with concern. "Maybe less time on the computer," they'll suggest.
The thing is, it's often the people who seem to have slipped initially unnoticed into my life who stand out.
Of course, there's family which has always been there and will always be there, no matter what you say or do or how much you protest. There're friends you met in school decades ago and new friends made with each move to a different city. This is normal.
But, where did the rest of the cast in my life come from? How did it begin that I have regular visits with my Ronald Coleman-esque neighbor? Why was it that my tiny, elderly "paperboy", who rode his bike everywhere with his pantlegs strapped with bungie cords, left a note explaining to me that his pastor advised him not to join a "hard rock band" as their drummer?
I've given up trying to explain to anyone over 50 how you can be friends with someone online (in a non-creepy way) whom you've never and may never meet face to face. When I try and rewind back to initial contact to explain, it's usually something like, "Well, there was a discussion on a podcast message board about sci-fi inventions that have become realities..." or, even more awkwardly, "I was following their tweets once they were following mine...". The more I explain, the more their expressions of blankness start clouding with concern. "Maybe less time on the computer," they'll suggest.
The thing is, it's often the people who seem to have slipped initially unnoticed into my life who stand out.
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Man. Me, too.
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