Over The Garden Wall

Typical facebook fodder...a dog made up as Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz

I used to lambast Facebook.
I think the plethora of cute cat photos and banal statements of " what I am having to dinner" gave the place a bad name .
Rightly or wrongly.
Last night I witnessed just how the immediate nature of the phenomenon worked for support and good.
I have a couple of friends that moved recently out of the village. Before that I would see them almost everyday " over the garden wall" so to speak. Most often or not the contact would be a cheerful wave and a hello, but it was contact.
I was sad when they left Trelawnyd.
Last night on facebook, I received a generic message from one partner detailing how the other had been admitted to hospital.
Within minutes, a half dozen Trelawnyd-ites had sent their best wishes and voiced their concern on line.
I liked that.
Perhaps years ago, in a village , gossip would have moved faster than Facebook and there would have been knocks on the door within an hour.
Now, virtual support can be there in seconds.
A sign of the time......yes...
But the sentiment and care behind the action remains the same
Thank Goodness.

44 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:03 am

    http://vizwiz.blogspot.com/

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  2. I really dislike facebook. I much prefer twitter to get a message across. I hope that your friend gets better soon. x

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  3. Dorothy does NOT wear tartan bows!

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  4. I prefer blogging to FB myself. Best wishes for your friend's recovery.

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  5. Anonymous11:37 am

    I save FB for immediate family but I understand what you are saying. I remain devoted to blogging and I sort of foresake FB, Twitter and Instagram but I have no issues with FB and the comfort and companionship the site can provide via the members.

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  6. I agree face book has good and bad but i think it depends on the user. I've seen friendships break but the user's concerned behaved inappropriately on Facebook. For me it's a great means of keeping in touch with everyone home and abroad, friends and relatives.

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    Replies
    1. Agreed.....the overuse of selfies and " look at me" gets on my tits

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  7. I like Facebook, though I don't spend much time there these days. It's amazing to think that just a few years ago we had NO IDEA where all our old friends were and what they were doing -- and now we know where EVERYONE is and what they're doing. For better and for worse!

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  8. There's good and bad in fb. in the heat of a debate, you do tend to find who are real and who has a front. Not sure if this is good or bad either.

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  9. Fingers crossed for their speedy recovery!

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  10. I hope your sting is better and your ring finger.

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  11. FB has its uses.
    John, I can't believe this myself but you were in my dream last night. I was painting my living room (which I'm not) and you gave me a huge box of assorted coloured (rainbow? :)) t-shirts to help with the choosing of the paint colour. Weird, or what?

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  12. There are more good things about Facebook than bad, in my view. I love it, it's been my saviour many a time for many a reason over the last however many years I've been on there. x

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  13. I like keeping in contact with old school friends and love seeing pictures of everyone and their families..... don't want to see the political and religion arguments.

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  14. Yes I agree John. I don't 'do' facebook but I do know what you mean. I don't think it matters what the form of contact is, as long as it is there and is immediate.

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  15. Facebook was handy when Hubby was at death's door.

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  16. Very true. Wishing your friend better health in the days ahead.

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  17. I agree with Linda's comment above. I find it's also helpful if one's pet has gone missing. You can post a picture of the pet and circulate it.

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  18. I guess I am a relic as I still write letters, I don’t Facebook but my whole family have accounts (including my 82 year old father) and are supposedly on there all the time.

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    Replies
    1. I cannot remember the last letter i recieved...... How sad

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    2. Hmmm, that gives me an idea... stay tuned!

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  19. My oldest says much the same, she's done several 'crowdfunding' Iguess it's called, efforts for friends in need. I try to adjust to the changing technological world around me, this one aspect seems good.

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  20. We moved back to NY a little over a year ago. After having moved from NY to Buenos Aires ARgentina where we lived for years. We loved it but when my sons wife became pregnant, my husband was all a dither and wanting to live back in the US.
    Within the year of our return to the US .. my husband died suddenly .
    Now my son and his little family live in The City and I live hours away in the NY State countryside. Very lonely up here. But the Highland Cattle and horse are very nice .. they like me. I bring treats.
    The over the garden fence thing is nice. If it is controlled. Otherwise you have the tiny old woman who is a bit senile knocking on your door, only at night when it is dark and you don't want to know who it is. Or it snows every week for the first winter you are back in the US.
    I want to go back to Buenos Aires.
    Where you visit when you run into a friend, on the street, in a cafe, in the park but not over the fence .. or at the door after dark :)

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    Replies
    1. A bitter sweet story..beautifully told

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    2. Thank you John ... now can I have Meg come visit ?

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  21. This is the second time very recently I have heard good things about FB. Still not tempted.
    And my heart goes out to NotesFromAbroad.

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    1. And mine, too ... NotesFromAbroad, you have had a hard year. A very hard year. Hang in there.

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    2. Oh thank you .. yes , jenny, it knocked the stuffing right out of me .. I think I am climbing out of that deep dark hole now .. as long as nothing else bad ever happens ... ever ! and John lets me have a dog ..

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  22. FB has it's uses not least keeping me in touch with my prodigal daughter in Australia.
    😊

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    Replies
    1. I guess it does make immediate contact a lot more simple

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  23. FB has it's uses and abuses.

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  24. Thank goodness indeed.

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  25. It's great for for finding lost dogs and their owners too. I love it for that! Actually I'm happy to see pics of cute kitties and people's meals, what i am well over is all the opinionating memes. Really, I think we were better off when we didn't know the stances of our acquaintances on abortion and gun laws and all the rest. There's a good reason why certain subjects are usually left alone in social company when we are together in person. I think they should be left alone on Fb as well. I didn't realise I knew so many closed-minded assholes until I was friended with them on FB. :D

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  26. Facebook is brilliant for keeping in touch with family, blogging buddies and friends .... but the folk that tell you where they are and what they are doing 10 times a day are a bit much, especially all the 'goodnight Jimbobs'.

    And I do like all the cutie pie animals, but not all the 'click on this link to see the fabulous trick one legged dancing donkey' which turns out to be a donkey in his own field eating grass ....... okay so that's a slight exaggeration but you know what I mean ;-)

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  27. Facebook is a wonderful resource for overcoming the tyranny of distance and staying in touch with family and friends. I feel sad that my parents didn't have it when they moved to the antipodes, it would have made the move so much easier.

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  28. As an anti-Facebook geezer, I found this positive thumbs up for the Facebook cult rather heart-warming. I guess that even Adolf Hitler and Margaret Thatcher had some good qualities.

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  29. I think one of the best uses of Facebook is the Lost Pets pages in our area. If you have ever had a pet go wandering, its a relief to check and see someone has found your lovey and is keeping them safe and you know exactly where to find them instead of yelling far and wide for your pet. And being frantic in the meantime. We also have flea market sites where you can buy/sell items and services.

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  30. I used to detest social media... however, last year my eldest sister passed away... she was 58 and it was a complete and total shock to my system... I have lived in NZ for 30 years and we "sisters 3" had sporadic contact over the years. I guess we all were busy doing our own thing, raising families, marrying, divorcing... you get the gist... same as everyone. My world changed in July last year when I got an awful phone call from my Dad (81) to tell me my sister had been taken to hospital and had lapsed into a coma... she had a massive infection throughout her body which had caused her organs to begin to shut down..she passed away 2 days later. I was distraught... I could not be there and I couldn't offer my support to my elderly parents.. but through the power of FB I managed to keep in touch with my niece as she planned her mums funeral, she posted pictures of the casket, the flowers and the procession ... and I have now kept in touch with my remaining sister through the FB forum over the last year and a bit... we "talk" every day and skype when we can. From being a FB hater... I am now grateful I can keep in touch very easily.

    Jo in Auckland, NZ

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