Feb 18, 2009

I don't know how it is where you live, but things are bleak here in Hooterville. We're broke and getting broker. Everyday the Hooterville Daily Dish regales us with the latest calamity. This agency or that, this government office or that, this school district or that, have cut back something or laid off someone. It's depressing to read. We are having rallies and protests against the latest and worst of the cuts. Everyone recognizes that we're broke, but everyone wants to be exempt from the pain and suffering. I guess I can't blame them for that. In other matters, I got a phone call from an elderly cousin last evening. The last time I spoke to this woman was...never, I think. She is the daughter of my mother's sister. She called to ask for my email, so that she could invite me to belong to a Facebook group, consisting of some of my long lost relatives. Since I'm not a total (emphasis on the total part) a-hole, I agreed. A decision I immediately regretted. I checked out their group and found a picture of my deceased brother (pictured above) posted. It was from when he was eight and showed him wearing his cub scout uniform. The group was trying to figure out who it was. Anyway, I have enough issues just dealing with me being me, without getting involved with a group of distant strangers. Okay, I am a total... Some people long to connect with their roots, me not so much. Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky

13 comments:

Squirrel said...

How awful to join the group and see them probing into your childhood -- is this the brother who used you as a BB gun target? I hope you didn't tell them about this blog. You're too nice.

Best to let sleeping cousins lie... when I met some long lost cousins They turned out to want to induct me into their religion. (They had joined the Mormons and wanted to save me from a certain hell.) They were relentless. I felt bad for them, esp. the elderly ones who had given most of their $$ & property away to the church, but I opted out.

Anonymous said...

Where is everybody?

Reya Mellicker said...

It's not a-holish to draw a boundary. You know yourself so well, Merle. This is one of the best things about you. Must you be part of something even if it makes you miserable? I say NO.

Your brother was a doll.

Love to you.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

I agree with reya you are not a-holish at all!!

just because you got signed up doesn't mean you have to do anything more....and hey, I bet there's a way to delete yourself if you really regret the decision.

okay, rosie, my cat who is sitting on my lap, just farted - it's bad I have to leave the room.

hope you work it out

Megan said...

Were you the one who invited Kurt?

tut-tut said...

I've found recently that relatives are best left to their own devices.

Kurt said...

See my post. Life is difficult enough without Facebook.

Jams said...

My niece invited me to join. I signed up because I usually do as I'm told. I was a member for all of fifteen minutes before I canceled my account. It gave me the creeps.

A Concerned Citizen said...

Merle, I think that Reya is right. Having, and knowing, your boundaries does not make you an a-hole. Even though the folks running the Facebook group are your relatives, that doesn't mean that what is right for them is necessarily right for you. There would be no shame at all in withdrawing from the group and cancelling your Facebook account. Absolutely none. Good luck, my friend.

Barbara said...

I'm still trying to figure out why people keep asking me to be their Facebook friends. I just don't get it!

You always get to choose your friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately (sometimes) you inherit your relatives.

e said...

Hi Merle,

I'm sorry to hear that you have relatives who are best avoided. I too got a messege from a nephew inviting me to view his Facebook page. I never did it because I disagree with Facebook's attempts to claim ownership of everything its members put up. As for my nephew, I love him, but e-mail works best for me. I agree with the consensus that you are not an a-hole, nor are you in the wrong for letting your long lost relatives that you are opting out.

Steve Reed said...

I happen to love Facebook, but the great thing about it is that you don't have to be any more active than you want to be. You don't ever have to participate in that group again! It's certainly not a-holish to set a boundary, as Reya said. (Though I have to ask...did you tell the cousins who's in the photo?)

Anonymous said...

Facebook friends ...eeech! creepy!