Wearing my ranty pants
Two months ago I moved to the town where I've been working for the last three years. I spent so much time on the road driving, and now that I don't have to do that, my time is freed up for other things. I've since started taking bass lessons, this week I had a cooking lesson from a Cajun friend of mine, and I've made some new friends. Life is good, and I'm being a social butterfly in all sorts of fun ways.
The rant is because of something ignorant that was said to me yesterday by a coworker. I was in the staff lounge at lunch time eating my lunch, which happened to be leftovers of my amazing meal that I cooked myself on Wednesday night. My cooking lesson was a smashing success. (Turkey carbonara over rotini) I was telling the others about the cooking success and how my friend Joe, who lives in Austin, Texas, called me up that evening to ask how the cooking went. My coworker replies after asking where Joe lived that I needed new friends or friends who lived closer to me or some such.
Oh, yeah, I know she didn't mean to be hurtful. She had the right intentions, but it was pure ignorance. Yes, she wants me to have new friends, but if she would have been listening to my story it would have been obvious to coworker J that coworker C is my friend. Her comment belies a belief that people who have friends that have been met online are somehow socially inept in "real world" situations.
Yes, I did used to spend lots of time on my computer doing chats with friends when I was driving all the time. I didn't have time for anything else and couldn't easily meet with other people who lived near the workplace. Since my living situation has changed, the rest of the situation has changed, too. Again, this is made obvious by hanging out and cooking with C after work. She's the same person who helped me last week when I had the brake drama on my car. Further, I am going out tonight to the movies with coworker A and her boyfriend because I was invited. In fact, they both came to visit me and hang out last weekend.
So my social life is fine, and don't criticize me because some of my friends have been made online. And Joe? I've known him for 14 years! We were university students together studying the same major. We used to go hang out at each others' dorms. So no, I'm not going to just get a new friend or throw away an old one because he lives a few hours drive away from me in a location that isn't convenient for someone else. Joe isn't one of those "internet friends," and not all my friends should be assumed to be.
The rant is because of something ignorant that was said to me yesterday by a coworker. I was in the staff lounge at lunch time eating my lunch, which happened to be leftovers of my amazing meal that I cooked myself on Wednesday night. My cooking lesson was a smashing success. (Turkey carbonara over rotini) I was telling the others about the cooking success and how my friend Joe, who lives in Austin, Texas, called me up that evening to ask how the cooking went. My coworker replies after asking where Joe lived that I needed new friends or friends who lived closer to me or some such.
Oh, yeah, I know she didn't mean to be hurtful. She had the right intentions, but it was pure ignorance. Yes, she wants me to have new friends, but if she would have been listening to my story it would have been obvious to coworker J that coworker C is my friend. Her comment belies a belief that people who have friends that have been met online are somehow socially inept in "real world" situations.
Yes, I did used to spend lots of time on my computer doing chats with friends when I was driving all the time. I didn't have time for anything else and couldn't easily meet with other people who lived near the workplace. Since my living situation has changed, the rest of the situation has changed, too. Again, this is made obvious by hanging out and cooking with C after work. She's the same person who helped me last week when I had the brake drama on my car. Further, I am going out tonight to the movies with coworker A and her boyfriend because I was invited. In fact, they both came to visit me and hang out last weekend.
So my social life is fine, and don't criticize me because some of my friends have been made online. And Joe? I've known him for 14 years! We were university students together studying the same major. We used to go hang out at each others' dorms. So no, I'm not going to just get a new friend or throw away an old one because he lives a few hours drive away from me in a location that isn't convenient for someone else. Joe isn't one of those "internet friends," and not all my friends should be assumed to be.