They Finally Found Me

Okay, I admit it. The only reason I signed up for Facebook was so I could read up on people who graduated from high school with me. I wasn't planning on adding friends or anything- it was just going to be my little duckblind on the information superhighway. Until my brother and sister-in-law found me and sent me emails inviting me to be their Facebook friends. Which led me to send out a host of other friend invites to people I haven't talked to in years.... and assorted family members I only see on holidays. So if you get an email from me, please be nice and respond.

A couple of months ago I undertook a similar project when I was phenomenally bored at work. I googled the best and brightest from my high school class and then surfed the alumni website. In hindsight, I didn't really need to know that Bapu was finished with medical school and working on dual doctorates in Economics and Business Administration. Or that Amanda had been editor of the Harvard Law Review. Or that Priya was married on an elephant. Nothing good can come from knowing stuff like that. Especially when your days are spent rearranging commas for nearly illiterate engineers and consultants.

Googling my name will get you nowhere, so let me fill you in. I didn't graduate on time or from my first-choice college, but I did graduate. With honors. And my health. There was no Asian livestock at my wedding, but there was the man of my dreams and Reader, I married him. And I haven't written my book yet. Truth be told, I'm not even close. But I promise you it will happen.

The internet can help you find a lot of things, but it can't help you find yourself. And it certainly shouldn't be used to define you. Regardless of the number of friends, doctorates, or pachyderms to your name.