Ai'nt FACEBOOK great... it has reduced what otherwise would be an explosive and memorable moment of reconnecting with an old impossible to find friend, after a 30 year gap, to a simple ordinary hello - that is as easy to do as 1, 2, and 3. What is even funnier and sadder is that instead of an evening of charm one goes to linkedin to read up the lost time. So much for the art and pleasure of reconnecting. What is even worse for the next generation is that they will never experience a “lost in time friend” or get to wonder about an old flame. At least that is how I was thinking up until this dude's 5th message pushed me to pick up the phone.
He said pick up the phone and call me.... Now... Later I thought, I can also pick up a glass of wine one evening and connect over Skype Video. I can react to Facebook in which ever way I want. There are a lot of people who detest Facebook for many reasons. And in fact, Facebook could be just about any external situation. It is up to us to turn that situation into an asset - as my friend Louisa Jaffe (CEO of Inc 100 Firm) said it. It is her company's moto by the way.
I felt the way of the first paragraph when I found out about an this old friend. Then he made me call him immediately and gave me the rest of the second paragraph and made me re-realize that the choice is always ours. What we do with our choices is what makes the difference.
By the way, the laugh after 30 years was still unmistakably Sandeep Srivastav. I really enjoyed talking with him. Glad he pushed me to make the call to the town I grew up in.
We all have 10 minutes even in the rush hours of the work day morning to see our glass half full.
Published by The 8020Strategy Group,