Those Facebook Social Graces

Let me tell you about my high school. I was late for the social class. I embarked on the public high school scene after being homeschooled until my sophomore year, and I was so socially backward…

Wait don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t think I was socially backward because I was homeschooled. My friend Teresa was the most un-socially backward person I know, and she was homeschooled all the way through high school. She could out-trend the top of the public school totem pole. I’m sure of it. But I was socially backward for different reasons.

 

For one, I didn’t like makeup, and when I finally decided to wear it, I picked the brightest, ugliest pink I could find. I was so clueless.

Of course I was teased. By today’s terms, I was downright bullied. But in those days we didn’t know what bullying was, so I made it through. In the long run, it was actually my friends who left the most lasting scars. Because they didn’t say anything.

Whenever I did or said something socially taboo, my friends would politely ignore it until I stopped doing it.  Eventually, I’d get a clue, but not always. My neon shirts clashed with my lipstick all the way into college. And I still feel pretty clueless when it comes to the social arena.

Enter social media (Even the name says Danger-Zone!). Now I feel like I’m in high school again. That socially backward girl that her friends find endearing, but so totally clueless.

I know it’s socially taboo to point out social taboos, but sometimes I wish someone would. Because I just read http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/writers-you-want-to-punch-in-the-facebook/ and I don’t know what this “Todd Manly-Krauss” is doing wrong!

Then again, maybe they can't tell me what I'm doing wrong. Maybe it's like listening to a really good song, and someone is playing a few sour notes in it. Maybe you can pinpoint the sour notes, but you can't explain why they're sour. So you just ignore the bad notes and enjoy the song.

Yeah, that's probably it.

I've got good friends.