Friending

THE LADY ON FACEBOOK takes a picture of her lunch every day, and shares it with her friends. She does the same with her cat, a cute one, her swimming pool, and her repotted plants. Also her snacks and drinks; they all show up on the internet, inliving color.The marvels of modern smart phones. Her tastes are of the highest quality, certainly higher than mine. But she never posts any pictures of herself or her house. Wisely, in the omission of home photos, since pictures of houses invite scrutiny and possible crime. It is also perhaps best that she takes no "selfies", for the same reason, although she does have pictures of herself on her profile, taken, one would estimate, about thirty years ago or more. I recall the one time she posted a picture of her current self it was very indistince and blurry, but you could see a woman considerably aged beyond the sultry pictures on her profile. It seems that she wants people to think of her younger self, which to me seems a pity, since current pictures of people do not conceal their inner and outer beauty, but reveal it. I mentioned to her that her swimming pool seems like a bit of a camera hog. That's more than I do. I take no pitures of anything, neither myself nor my house nor cats, and there is essentially nothing on my Facebook profile. I attribute this to lack of interest. Though I have been on Facebook for something between five and seven years, I have never been able to summon the interest in it necessary to motivate me to do the work required to show myself and all about myself. Facebook laziness. I must confess that I am doubtful whether anyone would be interestd in seeing what I had for lunch, where I live, or what I look like, and I vageuly have the same doubs about this lady, and, for tht matter, everyone else. We have an interest in the people we already know, and in our friends from bygone days who are on our "friends" list, but for for friends who are friends on Facebook only and not in real space time, I have my doubts. I tend to think that most Facebok members would disagree, and would proclaim their undying lvoe for all friends, real and Facebook only. I respect that. Often peole take pictures of sunsets, beaches, forests, or beautiful skies, and these are my favorite. There are, however, folks who have expressed agreement with me concerning lunch and drink photos, mainly among those who eschew them themselves. But the people who take and post them are not among them. We enjoy being flattered: "What a lovely lunch"! "My, your seimming pool certainly looks refreshing"! I try to contribute to the flattery, mainly to stay out of trouble. I hit the "like" button, or type in the word "precisely", or "exactly", to preserve peace and prevent war. Any indication of disagreement engenders an angry response, and a potential argument, away from which I hastily run. People prefer flattery, and despise having their sacred shared opions opposed.The only remedy more effective than the like button might well be the "delete Facebook account" button, wherever it might be.