It used to be you met someone, became friends, and hung out doing friend things. You introduced them to your other friends and everybody got together and everybody had fun. It was a sacred group, a private club of sorts where secrets were kept and memories were made.
You compared your friends to the friends on “Friends” or the friends on “Sex And The City” or even the friends on “Golden Girls.”
Was your best gal pal a Phoebe, Rachel, Monica, Samantha, Charlotte, Miranda, Dorothea, Blanche, Rose, or Sophia?
Was your best guy pal a Ross, Chandler, or Joey?
You and your friends got together in-person and did things together in-person. Oh, remember the time when you got so drunk… and that other time you woke up in bed with… well… fill in the blanks with your own experience.
Now, with Facebook and Texting in-person friendships have gone the way of the music CD and the land-line telephone with in-person social intercourse being replaced by social media.
I have a couple of close friends I haven’t seen in months. Months! It never occurred to me that it’s been that long until recently when I was telling someone about what my friend was telling me. I suddenly realized it wasn’t a voice conversation with my friend but texting. I tried to think of the last time we got together in-person and my memory could not go back that far.
How did this happen? Why did this happen?
What is even sadder is that it’s just the way it is these days. Text me. Don’t call me. It’s easier to text.
This has been a gradual de-evolution of friendship. It's something I hardly noticed but eagerly participated in through my tapping fingers on my cell phone texting keyboard. Why drive across town when I can interact with my friends from the comfort of the couch or the comfort of the bed or the comfort of the toilet anytime day or night?
As I look out the window at people on the street I noticed they’re walking alone and they always seem to be texting…
So, instead of the Friends theme “I’ll Be There for You,” there’s a new song on the horizon… and it’s called “I’m Just a Text Away.”
I’m Just a Text Away
I’ll answer every night and day
I’m Just a Text Away
Emoticons say all I have to say
I’m just a Text away
Dear friend forever in my cyberspace
I’m Just a Text Away
But damn I can’t remember your face…
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