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My Vacation from Facebook

By Gloria Diaz

Check out Gloria's Blog — Edge of Gloria!

Fort Wayne Reader

2010-10-04

A friend and former co-worker told me about Facebook a little over a year ago, and I compare her telling me to getting someone hooked on crack.

Since I’ve been on Facebook, I spend at least an hour a day seeing what my friends, some of whom I don’t even know, are doing. However, recently I’ve felt a combination of anger, frustration and depression. It doesn’t have anything to do with Facebook (okay, one of my friends said they were going to kill someone, and I offered tips, which they deleted) but wondered what I could accomplish if I took a break from Facebook. Would people wonder where the hell I was? Would they call me? Do people actually care about people, or do they care more about scoring free crap from “Farmville”? I decided to spend a week without Facebook to see what would happen. Strangely enough, three days into my break from Facebook, The Harrisburg University of Science and Technology had a social media blackout the very same week. The students are supposed to write essays about their experiences. Much like I’m doing now.

Day one: My day off. Instead of waking up and cracking open the computer, I have lunch out and spend some time at Hyde Brothers, picking up a couple of books, one of which I’ve wanted for some time now. I did a little prepping for class, and bought a coffee table. That evening, I went grocery shopping, took Daphne for a walk, talked with a former co-worker and checked out YouTube and The Fourth World, a website dedicated to the film, “Heavenly Creatures.” I also checked email.

Day two: Another day off. Woke up and fed Daphne and Summit and check regular email, not Facebook email. Got emails saying I have another friend request and that someone posted on my wall. I pick up the coffee table I bought yesterday and start staining it. Also had an exam for contact lenses. They have to special order them because of my astigmatism. I visit a friend and tell her about my upcoming yard sale. Spend time on YouTube checking out Trololololo Guy and Keyboard Cat.

Day three: Spent some more time staining the coffee table. Made some black bean soup. I need to call the eyeglass place because they double-charged me on my initial appointment. Checked email, but nothing exciting. No, “where have you been?” emails. I proposed to someone I don’t even know on YouTube. We’ll see what happens.

Day four: Wonder how many “Farmville” requests I’ve gotten. Must be nice to play video games all day long.

Day five: Took some grapes and tomatoes to the food bank, and also to a friend. Got stuff ready for the yard sale. House is still hellaciously cluttered and wonder if I should beg the “Clean House” crew to come to the house. Am I a borderline hoarder? Does clean underwear, a stapler and a phone book on the coffee table indicate a mental disorder? Or does the container of black pepper indicate normalcy?

Day six: Yard sale day. I made $34.30, and I’m puzzled as to where the 30 cents came from, since everything was either an even dollar amount or sold for 50 cents. I counted my start up change twice, and was sure that I had the right amount for each purchase, but even with the discounts, I shouldn’t have had an amount like 30 cents. It isn’t a big deal in the scheme of things, but it’s probably a good thing I didn’t become an accountant. Whoops, just recounted. It’s $64.50. Anybody need an accountant? Anybody?

Day seven: Despite filling up a garbage bag full of paper, the living room still looks like s&!^. I’m really sleepy, but I need gas for the car, so going out is inevitable. Since I’ve been sleeping until the last possible minute before I go into work (especially on the days I’m scheduled to go in at 7 a.m.) doing anything before work just isn’t going to happen.

Tomorrow, I’ll allow myself to go on Facebook. And no, I didn’t “cheat” by going on MySpace. I found out I got a little more done by not wasting a good hour each day on Facebook. There’s only so many “Farmville” requests you can tolerate without wondering how people can stay employed even though they seem to play this game a lot. Then again, maybe this is why people wonder where their time goes. Stop worrying about your virtual crops and work on having a real life.