Last Tuesday, I had a meeting with a lawyer to discuss some office matters. I never met him before, but when he opened the door, he was very much as I had expected him to be from his voice on the phone. He was in his 40’s, youthful and friendly in appearance. He was slightly shorter than me. His slender torso was further accented by the rolled sleeves, loose-fitting khaki colored shirt and matching, baggy brown pants that he was wearing. A pair of square, thin rimmed eyeglasses added a tint of up-to-date-ness to his overall look.
I got his name from Debbie. When inquiring about his background, she already told me that her friend, the lawyer, was her senior in law school. "He was already in college when I was born, I think," she said in her SMS. I raised my eyebrows. Suddenly I stopped feeling like 32, and began feeling like 17 again.
As we sat on the conference table, the lawyer and I had a chit-chat. Being associated to a mutual friend, naturally the conversation took its course to how each of us got to know Debbie.
"I learned from Debbie that you attended the same law school as her," I said. He nodded in agreement. "Yes, we both went to Padjadjaran. But I first knew Debbie when I was taking the certification course on intellectual right laws."
Debbie took that course last year, and from the stories she told me, I knew she made several friends from the class.
He then looked at me and said, "How did you know Debbie?"
I hesitated. I tried to think of something else to say that could explain it without having to make any confession. But I coudn’t. I had no choice but to come clean and admit it.
"We met on Friendster," I said.
There was an incredulous look on his face. I could almost hear his gasp of disbelief. I knew how ridiculous it might sound to him. I was referred to him by someone I met online?
I suppose he had suspected an entirely different answer. Maybe he guessed that we were friends at church, or at some other social communities. But Friendster? What kind of community is that?
"So, Friendster has some good use after all," he finally said. "I’m too old for that kind of thing."
"May I know how old you are?" I asked politely.
"I’m turning 50."
"I know someone who is about your age, and he is on Friendster," I said, and quickly add, "Well, maybe that’s because he is a youth counselor in his church. So he needs to be on Friendster to relate to the youth group."
"I’m a youth counselor, too, you know. But I don’t do Friendster. If I had, I would have been like my children." He ended his sentence with a bitter chuckle. Detecting a resigned tone in his voice, I dropped the subject.
Which brings me to the very question I have been asking myself.
I have been on Friendster for over 3 years now. I noted that the largest percentage of the population here are either college or high school students. Everytime I look at a profile, I can expect somebody who is NOT into anything that I’m into.
I feel older everytime I login to Friendster. It’s like chaperoning a high-school prom where the only people I can consider my peers are the teachers.
Don’t get me wrong. I like being in Friendster, because I can keep track of my friends. Well, I guess that the ONLY reason I’m still here to this day.
But will I still be here when I’m 40, or even 50? Will I still belong here then, or should I find somewhere else where people like me can truly fit in without feeling aged-challenged?
I don’t know.
I can only imagine one day, 18 years from now. I am working in my den, chatting with some old pals on Friendster when suddenly there is a loud knock on my door, followed by my teenage daughter’s yelling, "DAD! LOG OUT NOW! I WANT TO TALK TO MY FRIENDS AND YOU SCARE THEM!!"
That would be my cue to quit Friendster.
