The teenagers always tell me that no one under forty is on facebook, as part of their relentless effort to make me feel older and older.
Three weeks ago whilst noticing sixteen year old daughter Jordan taking selfies of her own face as she put on odd expressions I came to understand that she was on Snapchat where she would send silly pictures of herself, sometimes using filters to her friends and they would respond with similar silly pictures with the occasional chat message. Jordan then set me up on Snapchat, since it would seem I was the only one in the family not on that social media. Since an avatar was required she chose one of the few available for anyone over 40. My avatar is of a balding, bespectacled white haired old man. No one apparently is using anything like it. But that avatar seems to be a major factor in my experience on Snapchat. Almost from the moment of starting the account, I was inundated with hundreds of friend requests. I decided that I would accept all the friend requests in addition to friending my children. The friend requests continue daily so that I estimate I now have 3000 to 4000 Snapchat friends. I asked my children if their experience was the same. It was not. They seldom get a friend request. Why me? I ask. It would seem that the answer would appear to be that with the avatar of a desperate looking old man I have become a target for everyone who thinks that I want to buy explicit photos or videos of them, meet up with them, or learn to buy bitcoin. The vast majority of my “friends “” would appear to be computer generated because they chat with me immediately upon my accepting their friend requests. Yes, computerized robots. I am a bot magnet. Some of my new “friends” send me unsolicited photos very ofter disguised as texts. Some of the photos are quite explicit. Sadly, perhaps because of my age, I can’t even identify what some of the photos of female body parts are. When I got my first barrage of contacts, my inclination was to leave Snapchat immediately . But then quite honestly my early experiences with Snapchat was such that I thought if it’s this bad, why are my children on it? And yet i have confirmed that my experience has not been their experience Out of curiosity I then opened a WhatsApp account which seems actually to be a very efficient way to communicate with people throughout the world at no cost. Although I aspire to be a happening dude, perhaps snapchat is not for me. I plan on canceling the account in the next day or two probably causing massive unemployment amongst bots. I guess I will content myself with geriatric Facebook. Alas. I am not meant to be amongst the young. The world seems to be moving too fast for me. I am thankful that I am still hanging on. Have a great Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. Of course this is a time to express gratitude for family, friends and good health. But also a time to be thankful for living in Canada, where there are no bombs falling from the sky and we are not at risk of imprisonment for what we say, think or wear. And not only am I thankful to live in Canada but I am especially grateful to live in British Columbia, particularly the Fraser Valley. The photos are from Harrison Hot Springs where we are blessed with exceptional natural beauty and a soul inspiring arts and music scene. The unexpected extended summer doesn’t hurt either. Enjoy your day! Happy Thanksgiving.
As I sit here on a stair in the church basement whilst avoiding the sermon I am listing the aspects of my life for which I am thankful 1. For my family which provides me with immense love and hugs 2. That I am still alive to receive those hugs 3. That I live in Canada and that my family enjoys a Canadian standard of living and safety and that we don’t have to worry about being in a war zone , like so many, the Kurds of Syria coming to mind today 4. That I live in Canada where I can vote (I have done so already ) and feel comfortable that whether the election is won by the Conservatives, Liberals, NDP, or Greens that life will go on and Canada will still be the envy of the world, as I know that all parties and leaders want to make Canada better. It concerns me that I see so many negative things about our leaders on Facebook that lead to a breakdown in civil political discussion. Nasty Memes calling a leader “Trudope” or making absurd suggestions about what a leader or party will do does not help anything. All of the leaders deserve respect. All people deserve respect. Idiotic and inflammatory memes do not 5 For faith and this United Church which has played such a major role in the lives of my children (particularly Lauren) 6 For my wife Pam who drove me around when I was forbidden to drive for the month following my heart attack when I was not the best or most patient passenger, and for her patience in not hiding my medication or holding a pillow over my head. |
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