Not okay...

After much prodding from my cousin & a friend of my sister's I decided to check out Facebook. It was fun at first, getting friend requests and asking others to 'friend me'. Seeing faces from the past that I had long ago forgotten. Finding out that my high school friends are alive and well. Seeing what their spouses and kids look like. Then the novelty wore off. Rather quickly for me.

Frankly, I don't care that 'it's raining cats and dogs today' or 'I have piles of laundry to do'. I don't get 'farmville' or want to see your horoscope. I know some people love this. No offense to them. It's just not my thing.

I had a friend once ask me if I was on Facebook. I said yes and she asked why I hadn't asked to be her 'friend'. My response? 'Why? I see you everyday!' That was the end of that. She has not asked me to be her friend either.

I hear all kinds of things on the news about how people lose their jobs over Facebook posts, kids get bullied, racy pictures get posted and other ridiculous things. I have never experienced these things but it seems all too common. I think about all the outlets we have now to express ourselves and that it seems like nothing is off limits. Things we would, in a million years, never say to some one's face we have no problem writing for the world to see. Is it okay to be mean to people on line even though it's not okay in real life? I don't think so.

This morning I get a call from my husband (who is not on Facebook) asking if I can look up one of the players on his men's hockey league. He's a 17 year old kid whom my husband has coached for ten years. Apparently he had an altercation with an adult player on another team and had written some mean things about him on his Facebook page. Oh, boy. So I looked at it and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, thankfully. But still rude and disparaging to this man who holds a professional position and has a family. My first thought when I read this was 'did this child not get taught to respect his elders'? Hockey is a contact sport for sure and this kid's knee was hurt during a game. Allegedly by the man he disparaged. I know this man and just don't think he would intentionally go after a kid to hurt him. Maybe I 'm wrong but I am guessing the child doesn't know much about 'turning the other cheek' either. Now my husband, who is the president of the hockey league, has to figure out how and if it is something that needs to be dealt with.

So, my friends, I ask you, do you think we have just gotten too comfortable with this social media (blogs included) and feel like it's okay to write whatever we want no matter what? When I say 'we', I don't really mean US, I mean people in general. :) I try not to follow blogs like that and really try to be selective in my words when writing about a delicate matter and hope I am successful most of the time. It's seems like manners have just been tossed out the window in the name of expressing ourselves. Personally, I wouldn't read anything like that for long and would hope someone would call me out on it if I stooped to that level.