My love/hate relationship with Facebook #30in30

When I first began using Facebook, I thought it was a pretty cool site.  It allowed me to keep in contact with people I hadn’t heard form in a while and connect with classmates.  I thought it was very useful.  Now, I kind of dread it.  If it’s not the constant changes to the layout, it’s the plethora of game invites I receive, or the stupid ‘Like this if’ pictures.  It’s become overwhelming.

A few days ago I was switched to the new timeline feature against my will and I despise it.  The layout is confusing and personally, I just think it’s horrible.  Did I mention the vexing Facebook chat?  Have you logged on real quick, probably to write a generic happy birthday on someone’s wall, and found yourself with five chat pop ups?  I try to stay logged out of the chat but every once in a while, maybe due to a “glitch” on Facebook’s end, I find one of those pop ups at the bottom of my page.  Facebook and these facelifts have got to GO!

Another thing about Facebook that I find to be annoying are game notifications.  In my mind, Farmville is spam and I honestly wish people would stop inviting me to play the game.  I can’t forget about the people who add you to a group and then send 10 messages to the group a day updating you on the event they’re planning.  I don’t need to know every time a new artist is added to the line up of your show.  I’m glad you’re putting on this showcase for a good cause, but please stop with the unsolicited notifications that clog my inbox.

The last thing that I REALLY don’t like about Facebook are pictures like these that I see in my news feed more than I’d like to.  Is Jesus really going to send me to hell for not liking a picture?  Or does it mean that I don’t love God as much as you because you shared the picture and I didn’t?  I missed that in my King James Version.

Am I saying that I hate Facebook?  No.   I do like how Facebook reminds me of someone’s birthday.  I’m pretty sure this in one of the primary reason’s everyone uses Facebook.  Like any social media channel, Facebook has its ups and downs.   I just wish that I could go a day without 50 game invitations, 20 even updates, and someone telling me I’m going to hell because Jesus said to ‘Like’ this photo.

What are some things you don’t like about Facebook or any other social networking site?

Marriage or a ring? #30in30

In an attempt to learn more about each other in the class, my theory professor used skittles to help us with the task.  Each color represented a different subject we were to discuss.  For example, a red skittle meant we had to say what our guilty pleasure was and if you had a yellow skittle, you had to say what you would do if you had more money.  This is where the icebreaker got interesting.

One of my classmates had yellow and she expressed that if she had money, she would get engaged.  Apparently, she wants to marry her girlfriend, but her girlfriend said that she wouldn’t marry her unless she has an engagement ring followed by a big wedding.  It made me wonder if she cared more about the marriage or the ring and wedding.

I’ve always been a person to cherish marriage over a wedding.  A wedding lasts for a few hours, while a marriage is for a lifetime.  A few years ago I was having a conversation with someone and I expressed that I don ‘t need a ring to get engaged.  Ok, hear me out before you call me crazy.  My reasoning was that if a man wants to marry me but didn’t have a ring, would I say no because he didn’t have a ring?  In my head I would be putting more emphasis on having a ring instead of wanting to spend the rest of my life with a man who loved me.

Now, I know this might sound crazy to some, but I truly believe that if you want to marry someone, then do so.  Will demanding an engagement ring make that person love you anymore and ensure that your marriage will last any longer?  In addition to demanding a ring before planning the wedding, I’ve also heard people say that they want to get married but they can’t afford the expenses of a wedding.

I know there is someone reading this is going to think I’m crazy again, but so what if you can’t afford a wedding.  You can always go to the justice of the peace or have a small intimate gathering with immediate family members.  Weddings today are costing about $30, 000.  Yes, it’s a special day.  However, if you REALLY cannot afford to spend that kind of money for that Coming To America wedding, why go in debt to pay for it?

Spending an exorbitant amount of money for a wedding won’t make your marriage last any longer.  If I had to choose between a diamond ring and a glamorous wedding, or a long-lasting marriage, I’d choose the latter.  Diamond rings are nice but they aren’t this girl’s best friend.

What would you do? #30in30

As the bus approaches the stop, the father standing on the corner waits patiently for his daughter to exit the bus once it stops.  Sadly, when the doors opened, the little girl didn’t get off the bus.  When the father questioned the driver and aid about whereabouts of his child, they said they didn’t know.  The pulled off to their next destination and by this time, the father is worried about his daughter.  After an hour, the girl was found and brought home.  However, this ordeal could have been prevented.

At the end of the route, the driver and aide went to lock the bus down and to their surprise; the little girl was still on the bus.  Apparently the child had fallen asleep on the bus.  When the father asked about his child, why couldn’t the aide—who was the child’s driver last school year— check to see if the child was in fact on the bus when they reached her stop?  The bus driver went to drop the little girl home but made another mistake, he dropped her off at the wrong stop.  Luckily, she’s now home with her parents.

I’m glad this unfortunate situation had a happy ending, but I still can’t get over how it could have been avoided.  Why didn’t the aide and bus driver check the bus before they left her stop?  Were they in that much of a rush that it would have inconvenienced them to take a few minutes to check the bus for the girl?  Also, did they not see her get on the bus?  I know it was the first day of school and there probably was a bunch of little kids on the bus, but the aide was her bus driver last year.

I’m not a mother yet, but I have a niece and nephew.  If they somehow went missing, I know I would lose my mind.  I don’t even want to think about dealing with a situation like that.  While I know I would be devastated, it doesn’t compare to the pain a parent feels in that particular situation.

If you’re a parent and this happened to your child, how would you handle the situation?  Do you think that the driver and aide should be reprimanded?

First impressions #30in30

Do you believe that first impressions are accurate?  When I meet someone for the first time, I make sure that I keep my squeaky voice at an appropriate decibel.  I know that I can be loud at times, but during the initial meeting, I am self-conscious about the pitch and level of my voice.  I also try to balance my serious and witty sides so I don’t appear to be too jovial or too serious.  It’s not that I’m trying to be phony, but you don’t want your first impression to be memorable for the wrong reasons.  I’ve always heard the cliché, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression,” and I always keep the idiom in the back of my head when meeting new people.

For the past two weeks I’ve had class with the same four women.  We are enrolled in a full time Masters program in which majority of our classes are in a cohort.  In short, most of my classes have only four students.   Today was the beginning of a new semester for the first time; we had additional students in our class.   First day of classes are usually filled with the formulaic introductions —where you went to school and your career goals— and today were no exception.

I finished my introduction and the next person began to speak.  I sat there listening to this one of the new students speak and all I could do was shake my head.  “I hope this girl isn’t serious,” I thought, “There is no way in the world she’s serious.  When the professor asked when did she graduate from undergrad, she replied with, “I don’t remember when I graduated.”  I was stunned.  How could she not remember such a memorable occasion?  The more she spoke, the more I shook my head in disbelief.

After graduation she moved to another state for about a year and she expressed that she did absolutely nothing.  When the professor asked, “how did you pay your bills,” she replied with, “well, I had a few odd jobs but nothing serious.”  I know this might seem stupid, but things went further downhill.   In the midst of her mindboggling introduction she mentioned that she had absolutely no idea what she wanted to do after graduation.  In fact, she didn’t know when she wanted to graduate.  Apparently, she is still trying to “find herself.”

Eventually the professor interrupted and expressed, in a nice way, that it’s expensive to enroll in this graduate program and not have a tentative end goal in mind.  I did my best to not look at her because I didn’t know how to camouflage my facial expression. As she finished her spiel, the professor asked if she was in the full time program and she laughed as she said the following, “No!  I can’t commit to a full time program at this time.”  She ended her

My first impression of her was that she’s a free spirited and has some commitment issues.  She approached every answer as if it was a joke and for the love of God I pray that I am not put into a group with her.   Graduate school is too expensive to not have some sort of a career goal in mind.  I know it might sound a little judgmental on my end, but honestly, would you want to work with someone like that?

First impressions can be misleading and I’ll admit that her first one wasn’t good.  Who knows, maybe I’ll like working with her.  I can only hope that my initial impression of her was false and she turns out to be the complete opposite.

Keep it moving #30in30

As I sat on the porch engrossed in the conversation I was having on the phone, I saw her out of the corner of my eye.  I was hoping she would say hello and keep walking, but that would be wishful thinking.  My neighbor who couldn’t care less about the cell phone attached to my ear rudely interrupted my hilarious conversation.  As she asked me numerous questions about my unemployment situation and school, I figured she would see the phone and keep walking, but she did not.  The more I tried to continue my conversation, the more she pried.  She eventually left, but I somewhat regret speaking to her.

I am a very talkative person.  However, whenever I see this particular neighbor, I really want to run in the opposite direction.  I don’t understand how someone could be so rude.  Did she not see that I was on the telephone?  Why must she ask me so many questions?  It’s one thing to participate in friendly chitchat, but it’s something else to intrude.

As she talked I tried to come up with different ways to end the conversation, but it just didn’t work out that way.  I would talk on the phone and she would ask another question. How is it possible for someone to be that inconsiderate? It’s polite to speak to people and ask a few questions, especially when you haven’t seen them in a while.  However, when you see that they are in the midst of a conversation, a simple hello will suffice.