The Grass is Always Greener

When I signed up for Facebook, I did it as an experiment.  I had heard about this social networking thing, had a My Space account, and generally was unimpressed.  And all of the IT trades were going on and on about how beneficial Facebook, specifically, could be to the business work.  Being the skeptic, I thought “how?”, so I signed up in the hopes of finding out.  

I don’t know if I ever answered my question, but I was pleasantly surprised by Facebook.  It was a grown-ups version of My Space where the emphasis is on making people connections versus “pimping out” the profile with annoying backgrounds and songs that play whenever someone tries to leave you a message.  

I was also surprised at how many people I went to high school and college with were on Facebook.  It was nice to reconnect with these people – and do it in a way that is more efficient than email.  Email is a one-way dialog while Facebook seems to start dialogs easily like meeting up with people at your favorite water hole.

What I didn’t expect was the jealousy from a single classmate.  My good friend from high school has an awesome job in LA.  She has traveled the world & meets and interviews actors and various bands on a fairly regular basis.  If she mentions meeting Tom Hanks, don’t reply to her with a message that you are amazed by her life/job — especially if you have kids.  The reply back from her will have something about “well, at least you have kids”.  Huh?  If you are married with children, you can’t be openly in awe of the life she leads?  That makes sense. (Please insert sarcasm here.)

I have walked into this trap twice. The first time, it was when she mentioned having a full spa day with her friend, so I mentioned how relaxing that sounded.  Her response: well, you get to spend time with your kids.  The second time was a comment responding to the fact she had met someone famous.  I got a similar response.  
And, now, I’m trying to figure out why she even mentions meeting these people if no one is to respond.  Sure you can go down the path that she’s doing it to feel important or get a level of response to make her feel good about herself, but why the public snide responses to the positive feedback?  That’s the part I can’t figure out.

To her, the grass is greener in my yard.  It’s unfortunate that she keeps thinking my comments are implying that I think her grass is greener – I just think it’s different.  It’s interesting.  I don’t want it really; I am simply in awe of someone who has a job where it gives her the chance to talk with people most of us only read about or see on the movie screen.  Simply put, it’s neat.  

I do wonder at what point she will realize that her inability to meet a man of her dreams and have kids is likely related to her job.  It is hard to have a relationship if you are flying all over the place, working late getting ready for award shows, and pretty much have a life that consists only of work.  Maybe that’s why she’s a bit touchy with people’s responses.  Who knows.

3 Comments Add yours

  1. garbonzo says:

    Has she seen our yard? It is full of weeds and choked with forgotten toys. Why isn’t it cleaner? Because we are spending time with the kids.

  2. Hubman says:

    I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Facebook myself. ASM and I have reconnected with numerous college friends, and I’ve been found by some people from high school.

    The funny thing to me is when I get a friend request from a HS classmate who wouldn’t give me the time of day when we were IN high school!

    I’ve come across old friends similar to yours. I found it easier to move on, but I can be lazy…

  3. Emmy says:

    Garbanzo – I had the same image in my head.

    Hubman – I’ve had the same experience with people who really didn’t interact with me in high school or even college, but have connected with me on Facebook. As for this person, I have definitely just moved on. 🙂

What do you think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.