Q: As Facebook becomes more popular, I am becoming inundated with suggested friend requests for the parents of my friends.   When I grew up, part of the required reverence for my elders dictated that our social interactions were limited to a few uncomfortable minutes at the beginning and end of a sleepover.  As I aged, this took the form of a short conversation at a wedding or, perhaps, a beer during a move-in or move-out. My question is, have these barriers been obliterated?  Can I be friends with my friend’s parents or is there a mutual separation that should be adhered to? -Anonymous A: Hey there, sport. Good to see you! Heard about your old man’s promotion, by the by. Great news, great news. Say, so I see you haven’t accepted my friend request yet. What’s the story there, huh? (jabbing you in the side with my elbow and chuckling) I’m just joshin’, get to it when ya can. Like how ‘bout now on that oPhone of yours? Joshin’, just joshin’. I know it’s an ePhone. So. How’s school? Oh, you’re out of school? How come I didn’t know that… probably would’ve saved myself some embarrassment if I had access to that Faceplace page of yours. But what can I do, I haven’t received confirmation on that one yet. Anywho. Oh, ran into that hot girlfriend of yours the other day at the Pic n’ Save. You know, that foxy number…what’s her name…Taffiny? Think I’m sayin’ that right. Not sure. (eyes widen) You broke up? When? 2004? Gee whiz, I haven’t seen you in AGES. Good grief. If only I’d known you lovebirds broke up! Boy, do I have egg on my face. Wish we could have avoided this! Say, why don’t you just add me on limited profile, that way I won’t see the photo albums of you binge drinking, and I can still leave you a neat little message on that wall of yours from time to time? Hey, you can even comment on my pics—my page is all yours! We’re all adults here, seems it’s time to man up and be FB friends. Whattya say, son? Catch ya on the ‘net! Love, Mr. Lauren

Q: As Facebook becomes more popular, I am becoming inundated with suggested friend requests for the parents of my friends.  

When I grew up, part of the required reverence for my elders dictated that our social interactions were limited to a few uncomfortable minutes at the beginning and end of a sleepover.  As I aged, this took the form of a short conversation at a wedding or, perhaps, a beer during a move-in or move-out.

My question is, have these barriers been obliterated?  Can I be friends with my friend’s parents or is there a mutual separation that should be adhered to?

-Anonymous

A: Hey there, sport. Good to see you! Heard about your old man’s promotion, by the by. Great news, great news. Say, so I see you haven’t accepted my friend request yet. What’s the story there, huh? (jabbing you in the side with my elbow and chuckling) I’m just joshin’, get to it when ya can. Like how ‘bout now on that oPhone of yours? Joshin’, just joshin’. I know it’s an ePhone. So. How’s school? Oh, you’re out of school? How come I didn’t know that… probably would’ve saved myself some embarrassment if I had access to that Faceplace page of yours. But what can I do, I haven’t received confirmation on that one yet. Anywho. Oh, ran into that hot girlfriend of yours the other day at the Pic n’ Save. You know, that foxy number…what’s her name…Taffiny? Think I’m sayin’ that right. Not sure. (eyes widen) You broke up? When? 2004? Gee whiz, I haven’t seen you in AGES. Good grief. If only I’d known you lovebirds broke up! Boy, do I have egg on my face. Wish we could have avoided this! Say, why don’t you just add me on limited profile, that way I won’t see the photo albums of you binge drinking, and I can still leave you a neat little message on that wall of yours from time to time? Hey, you can even comment on my pics—my page is all yours! We’re all adults here, seems it’s time to man up and be FB friends. Whattya say, son? Catch ya on the ‘net!


Love,

Mr. Lauren