Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Public Display of .... TMI

When I was a boy, I heard my mother decry the behavior of a friend of hers. Mom said, "Well, she just likes to air her dirty laundry. Still too you to grasp the abstract, it made no since to me why a woman would hang her laundry out to dry while it was still dirty. Of course, my mom would never do that, especially since Daddy brought home that brand new Kenmore dryer and put it in that closet on the closed in back porch.

That's right, Our back yard clothes line had become a victim of modern technology. It had no purpose other than to catch Johnny Crawford by the neck while he chased me at night. (I knew where the clothes line was. Johnny, on the other hand, learned first-hand what they mean in football when they say, "he clothes-lined the runner.

Things are different now. Today we have all kinds of technology. We have cell phones, e-mail Facebook, My space; we can make our entire world an open forum. And, unfortunately, some do. We have whole new ways to "air our dirty laundry.

People on cell phones in public are particularly annoying. Why is it that when some one is talking on a cell phone in public, they feel every one around them must hear the conversation.
Or, we see and hear the woman explaining to the world and the other party on the line, how, "if she's gonna disrespect me cause I used to date her "Baby daddy," then I'm gonna beat her down." She sounds like she is recording an audition for the Jerry Springer Show.

Facebook can be amusing at times. I am amazed at the people that air their laundry on their Facebook status. Read your status before you post it and ask, "Do I really need to share this? These are actual "status" post on Facebook:

______: (I'll leave out names for obvious reasons.) "Wishes her husband would realize that I am not an idiot."

_____: Thinks that her boyfriend should be a man and do what I want and stop listening to his mother every time she has an opinion!!" (The boyfriend; not husband, is 18. And mom pays the bills)

I would feel bad about sharing this, but they don't. I do not use the slang of the next generation much; other than to tell them that I am "old school." But, one phrase has made its way into my 49 year-old vocabulary: "TMI!" Too Much Information. A friend of mine from high school told me, (on Facebook) although he agrees with me in principle, he still finds it fun to read. I guess so. I just worry about the loss of the entire concept of discretion in this new "Facebook" culture. We certainly found new way to air our dirty laundry. I wonder if Johnny Crawford is on Facebook? Just a thought. Thank you for reading.

2 comments:

  1. Amen to that. I have church members that air their grievances on blogs and facebook for the world to see; what a testimony for their church! I was on Facebook for 2 days; I grew so depressed by what I saw that I had to leave it behind. TMI is a great way to put it.

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  2. Very good post Bro. Mark. That's the very reason I don't like facebook, my space, etc. My wife had an account before, and I was learning too much about people that I didn't want to know!

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