Maintaining Friendships, Keeping Communication Going, Not Breaking the Link

Obama said, "If you're tired of arguing with strangers on the Internet, try talking to one of them in real life."

He was talking about the big divide in this nation between Trump supporters and people who are aghast at his being where he is now.

But I want to talk about the people we do see in real life--friends who keep the communication going and friends who break the link.

Most of my friends are really good at keeping the connection.  They respond to one another, praise, thank, share.

Then there are those friends who might come over for lunch at the home of a hostess who's put a lot of effort into welcoming them, and then they're gone, and she's forgotten.

It feels a bit like being the woman the morning after when the gender imbalance was strongest.  The man has left her bed, and he doesn't call later in the day.  He had been there, done that.  Moved on.

At the very least it's like holding the door open for someone and receiving not a smile or thank you, but no response at all.

It isn't a question of debits or credits.  It's a question of the connectedness, the feeling that we matter to one another, that there is a human connectedness.

Then the disconnect.