Literally!
Merry Meet Family and Friends!
So, I've encountered one of the stranger and dare I say, darker aspects of social networking. Oh, it was bound to happen. As much as I have enjoyed reconnecting with childhood friends, there are really good reasons why some people don't stay in touch for 30 years!
In this year past, I've reconnected with a couple of male acquaintances from High School. One out of sheer curiosity, (it was rumored that he was....ummmm, deceased) the other, because I truly wanted to believe that with age comes wisdom, and to that end, offer the benefit of the doubt.
You would think I would know better by now! Oh, I still believe that wisdom comes with age for most people. For others, insanity gets there a lot quicker than wisdom could ever hope to!
The first, was a guy I dated for about a week and a half during my freshman year in High School. I had been forewarned that he was "strange", but decided that I shouldn't judge his character based on sheer rumor. Suicide attempts, drug overdoses, strange obsessions with male teachers finally led me to the conclusion that the doubt definitely outweighed the benefit!
In the first 15 minutes of reconnecting with him, he sent me a Facebook "gift" with a little note that read, "I send you a yellow rose of friendship, because alas, you are betrothed to another". Yes, lovely, I admit, but considering the brevity of our High School relationship and the fact that we hadn't kept in touch for 30 years, it seemed rather odd. I learned that he had been married and had a child. He sent me a photo of his wife, that I suspect was not really his wife at all. He further told me that he was a sanguine Vampire, who only slept during daylight hours. For those unfamiliar, a "sanguine" Vampire derives energy from feeding on human or animal blood, as opposed to a "psychic" Vampire who feeds off human energy. This, I found this all quite befitting of what I already knew of his personality. "It's all good", I thought. Seriously! I'm a Witch. Who am I to judge!
In the weeks that followed however, his behavior began taking on a decidedly possessive turn. He became agitated by the fact that I wasn't commenting on every status update or spending my entire time online chatting with him. His frustration was obvious in the increasingly antagonistic comments made to my posts. Finally, when he sent me an email asking why we weren't chatting regularly, I explained that I really didn't spend a lot of time chatting with anyone. That's what "Status Updates" were for. He became irate, demanding to know why I "sought him out, only to ignore him". He suggested that if I weren't going to chat with him or anyone else, I should cancel my account. I "clarified', in retrospect, perhaps a little too harshly, that it wasn't I who "sought him out" and that it was unrealistic to assume that I would spend every moment I was logged on chatting solely with him. "Remove" and "Block". He later confided in a mutual friend that he had been in love with me since High School. Who knew!? I thought he was gay!
The second, was someone that I knew quite well in High School and beyond. I had ended the friendship several years ago when I realized that he was hypocritical, judgemental and if you disagreed with his perspective, at times, menacing. When a "friend request" arrived from him recently, I hesitated for a few days before accepting. In retrospect, waiting a few more weeks would have saved me the trouble of hitting the "block" option.
You see, this man had been courting a twisted, 30 year long obsession with his High School sweetheart. She and I had been best friends back in the day and it was I who had introduced them. They established a long term relationship that began the Summer before High School and that ended shortly after senior year with a broken engagement. And although it was his choice to break the engagement, he continued to blame her for it's ending and for his past 30 years of romantic failures.
Upon accepting his friend request, he shared with me that he wanted to make amends to those people that he'd hurt in the past. He also shared that he was seriously ill, a fact that he only wanted to a few people, myself included, to know. In the first 15 minutes, he mentioned his High School sweetheart three times. He made it abundantly clear however, that she was not one of those people he wanted to share the news of his illness. It was perfectly obvious however, that his reason for contacting me had absolutely nothing to do with making amends, but was intended to fish for information about her. A few days later, not only did I learn he'd contacted her, but was attempting to use his illness as a means of it rekindling their relationship.
She however, had recently remarried, so I knew he was going to be seriously disappointed. When he learned of her marriage, he began sending me rambling messages, referring to she and her new husband by vile names and accusing her ruining his life. Despite my repeated attempts to put things in a clearer perspective for him, the line between truth and fantasy continued to blur. He had absolutely no intention of closing the door on the past and any suggestion of him doing the same angered him. I didn't realize how fatal his attraction actually was until one of his messages described, in detail, his delusions of premeditated murder! I couldn't hit the "Remove" and "Block" functions fast enough, but not before warning him that I had copied his messages to her and that if he contacted either of us again, I would forward them to the authorities in his current State of residence.
My experience with Internet communication has led me to to conclude that one can tell, usually within the first 15 minutes, whether the person with whom you are chatting is crazier than a bag of rats. A diagnosis not found in any text on Abnormal Psychology, but accurate, to say the very least. Of course, I admit, I have also encountered a few exceptions my self imposed "15 minute" theory.
I recently decided that if I have to think twice before "friending" someone on Facebook, that's one time too many.
My status has been updated thus far to read, "Tracy's Facebook Page is now a "Psychopath Free Zone". Of course, there are always exceptions!
In Darkness, Light!
Tracy
Merry Meet Family and Friends!
So, I've encountered one of the stranger and dare I say, darker aspects of social networking. Oh, it was bound to happen. As much as I have enjoyed reconnecting with childhood friends, there are really good reasons why some people don't stay in touch for 30 years!
In this year past, I've reconnected with a couple of male acquaintances from High School. One out of sheer curiosity, (it was rumored that he was....ummmm, deceased) the other, because I truly wanted to believe that with age comes wisdom, and to that end, offer the benefit of the doubt.
You would think I would know better by now! Oh, I still believe that wisdom comes with age for most people. For others, insanity gets there a lot quicker than wisdom could ever hope to!
The first, was a guy I dated for about a week and a half during my freshman year in High School. I had been forewarned that he was "strange", but decided that I shouldn't judge his character based on sheer rumor. Suicide attempts, drug overdoses, strange obsessions with male teachers finally led me to the conclusion that the doubt definitely outweighed the benefit!
In the first 15 minutes of reconnecting with him, he sent me a Facebook "gift" with a little note that read, "I send you a yellow rose of friendship, because alas, you are betrothed to another". Yes, lovely, I admit, but considering the brevity of our High School relationship and the fact that we hadn't kept in touch for 30 years, it seemed rather odd. I learned that he had been married and had a child. He sent me a photo of his wife, that I suspect was not really his wife at all. He further told me that he was a sanguine Vampire, who only slept during daylight hours. For those unfamiliar, a "sanguine" Vampire derives energy from feeding on human or animal blood, as opposed to a "psychic" Vampire who feeds off human energy. This, I found this all quite befitting of what I already knew of his personality. "It's all good", I thought. Seriously! I'm a Witch. Who am I to judge!
In the weeks that followed however, his behavior began taking on a decidedly possessive turn. He became agitated by the fact that I wasn't commenting on every status update or spending my entire time online chatting with him. His frustration was obvious in the increasingly antagonistic comments made to my posts. Finally, when he sent me an email asking why we weren't chatting regularly, I explained that I really didn't spend a lot of time chatting with anyone. That's what "Status Updates" were for. He became irate, demanding to know why I "sought him out, only to ignore him". He suggested that if I weren't going to chat with him or anyone else, I should cancel my account. I "clarified', in retrospect, perhaps a little too harshly, that it wasn't I who "sought him out" and that it was unrealistic to assume that I would spend every moment I was logged on chatting solely with him. "Remove" and "Block". He later confided in a mutual friend that he had been in love with me since High School. Who knew!? I thought he was gay!
The second, was someone that I knew quite well in High School and beyond. I had ended the friendship several years ago when I realized that he was hypocritical, judgemental and if you disagreed with his perspective, at times, menacing. When a "friend request" arrived from him recently, I hesitated for a few days before accepting. In retrospect, waiting a few more weeks would have saved me the trouble of hitting the "block" option.
You see, this man had been courting a twisted, 30 year long obsession with his High School sweetheart. She and I had been best friends back in the day and it was I who had introduced them. They established a long term relationship that began the Summer before High School and that ended shortly after senior year with a broken engagement. And although it was his choice to break the engagement, he continued to blame her for it's ending and for his past 30 years of romantic failures.
Upon accepting his friend request, he shared with me that he wanted to make amends to those people that he'd hurt in the past. He also shared that he was seriously ill, a fact that he only wanted to a few people, myself included, to know. In the first 15 minutes, he mentioned his High School sweetheart three times. He made it abundantly clear however, that she was not one of those people he wanted to share the news of his illness. It was perfectly obvious however, that his reason for contacting me had absolutely nothing to do with making amends, but was intended to fish for information about her. A few days later, not only did I learn he'd contacted her, but was attempting to use his illness as a means of it rekindling their relationship.
She however, had recently remarried, so I knew he was going to be seriously disappointed. When he learned of her marriage, he began sending me rambling messages, referring to she and her new husband by vile names and accusing her ruining his life. Despite my repeated attempts to put things in a clearer perspective for him, the line between truth and fantasy continued to blur. He had absolutely no intention of closing the door on the past and any suggestion of him doing the same angered him. I didn't realize how fatal his attraction actually was until one of his messages described, in detail, his delusions of premeditated murder! I couldn't hit the "Remove" and "Block" functions fast enough, but not before warning him that I had copied his messages to her and that if he contacted either of us again, I would forward them to the authorities in his current State of residence.
My experience with Internet communication has led me to to conclude that one can tell, usually within the first 15 minutes, whether the person with whom you are chatting is crazier than a bag of rats. A diagnosis not found in any text on Abnormal Psychology, but accurate, to say the very least. Of course, I admit, I have also encountered a few exceptions my self imposed "15 minute" theory.
I recently decided that if I have to think twice before "friending" someone on Facebook, that's one time too many.
My status has been updated thus far to read, "Tracy's Facebook Page is now a "Psychopath Free Zone". Of course, there are always exceptions!
In Darkness, Light!
Tracy
2 comments:
Oh wow! There is an abundance of crazy people i must say. Hmm! That sounded very judgemental..Oh well!
Thank you for posting my button. I could n't find yours on your blog. Did i miss it?
Brightest blessings**
Hi Georgina,
I don't think I know how to get a button! I tried, but couldn't find a link!
Bright Blessing to you as well!
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