Sunday 7 June 2015

Foul Fiend Facebook




Sometimes,  in  the  interests of sanity and wellbeing, we have to concede defeat and do a deal with the devil.    in this case the  devil  was Facebook. and  i  did deal i  did,  oh yes i  did.......and  i did regret deal  i  did,  oh  yeees i did !!!   in the immortal words of  frankie howard  "woe, woe and thrice woe !!! "    No........not totally, maybe i  should explain from the beginning.

Much as i love my flat and,  overall,  don't regret moving to Hexham,  there are things i left behind on island that  i miss desperately with a whole hunk of  my  broken being.       no not things.......people.    specifically,  young people.......thinking people........techie people.........movie loving people.........book reading people.......fun people.........laughter loving people. .....upbeat people........interesting people........the sort of people i chose to live and work with when i felt a little  more in control of my destiny.   
  

So........i signed up with Facebook thinking i could join a forum or two and chat online to young peeps and, maybe,  find some  disabled folk  and pick up hints and tips from others who live with pain and limitations on the basis that the best way to learn is to listen to the experiences, successes  and failures of those who tread  the path  ahead  of  you  and,  hopefully,  add  a  little to  their  wisdom too.   well.........that's where the woe, woe and thrice woe comes into the story.    wotta  lotta miseries i found out there!!    

The youngsters are brilliant and have linked me to some really positive and challenging pages, political, social,  fun.  Have a look at collective-evolution.com  wonderful.     it all fell apart when i went looking for disability sites.    oh...........despair, despondency, desolation........every post day after day after day starting  "i don't feel well today"  "i've got a lot of pain today"   "i had a really bad night last night"   "wish i could chop my leg off"    "my rubbish/inept/cruel/useless    doc/gp/consultant/physio/OT/radiographer/sugar plum fairy on top of the chistmas tree/birthday cake/garbage tip "..........ok not the last one.......... ( delete as appropriate)   AND THAT'S JUST ONE PERSON ON TWO DAYS WORTH OF POSTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!    
After a week or two of playing Facebook Kangaroo............you know that game surely?............hopping from one forum to another looking for the right place to settle?............Mick Jaggerified?..........i can't get no satisf........etc etc?...........anyway,  i found FBook forums to be an exercise in self flagellation worthy of the most hardened martyr.    NOT  MY  SCENE  BABY.   i have un-invited myself from them all and un-friended all the un-friendlies and  shaken the dust off my sandals and walked away from formidable forums..........there...........that feels better !!!

But...........it wasn't all gloom and doom.    a pile of younglies from the distant and not so distant,  past have found me and i've found them and they are as wonderful as i remember them to be.   they send me the most beautiful, soul enriching links.    they make me think about life, death and everything in between.    they get excited by environmental  issues and angry over social injustice.    they laugh, they live, they love all to the extreme.    and they face life with courage and humour and activism..........what's not to like?     thank you children, for letting me share in a little corner of your virtual world.    keep me young, keep me thinking, keep me vital wont you...........PLEASE  ???






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