It was the peer pressure

Way back in high school I tried pot. Not because I was pressured to but because "yes, please" is my usual answer when things are offered to me.* (I tried escargot for the same reason.) So I tried it. Meh, not so much. And unlike the stereotype from 70s, the potheads at my school didn't take the "oh, come on, you know you want to" approach but instead went with "S'okay. More for us." (Important life lesson - never waste expensive stuff on people who don't like it.)

Those potheads have a lot to learn from the Facebook pushers.

I've ignored Live Journal and Facebook for a while now but at the closing night cast party for Arcadia (yes, Sarah, I miss you bunches), Clyde, having signed Erin up, was modifying her profile for her in ways that caused her to wave her arms around and expostulate loudly but - being Erin - not to actually say "no." Sarah's already on, so once Clyde finished having his way with Erin, the three of them slowly turned to me like.... well, like Vampires in search of a light snack.

I went down without much of a fight, I'll admit, which surprised me seeing as I've paid exactly zero attention to Facebook and actively resist LJ.** Clyde did the registration stuff for me and would occasionally hold up the laptop and say "type in a password" or something similar and I'd comply.

And now I'm covered in Vampire hickies and I'm on Facebook. And - so far - I'm enjoying it. During the registration process Facebook trolled my address book and asked if I wanted to friend the existing Facebook members. "Oh, look," said the idiot, "I know these people!" Yes, ding-dong, you know the people in your address book. In order to prevent other ridiculous statements of the obvious Clyde told me to just say "yes to all" and move on. And I did. (What is it with him? Does he have supernatural powers? Did he have them before he did Dracula: The Musical?)

I've added a bunch of friends and even sent some "let's be friends" to others. I put up a profile picture. I've added a couple of applications, like the "where I've been" map. I became a zombie. (I should note that no matter what happens with the whole zombie thing I cannot fight wearwolves as I know one.)

And is it a coincidence that Pete Townsend's "Face the Face" is playing now? I think not.


* Ali once sat me down and taught me some alternative answers to "Leta, would you be able to....". They were "Oh, I'd love to, but I can't"; "Thank you for thinking of me, but I just can't"; and "No." She made me repeat them until they sounded natural coming out of my mouth. They are, of course, some of the most underused phases in my vocabulary, unlike "Oh, I can't ... I have rehearsal," which is somewhere in the Top 20.

** Possibly the better inducement to get me to join came from Patrick and Melanie. They're on and didn't seem to care in the slightest whether I joined or not, reducing the cult/clique vibe I get from social networking sites. One can draw the obvious conclusions but I think it just that they are sane, levelheaded people, rather than, say, Kool-Aid-drinking fanatics. Or was that last clause a bit of an insulting overstatement?