I enjoy the various social media's available, mainly because I'm very nosey; and very lazy! I would like to be a celebrity stalker but can't be bothered to travel in search of my targets. The fact that I can now "follow" them on twitter and also follow my friends on Facebook usually satisfies my nosiness!
I also have a real issue with losing touch and will spend ages trying to track down people I knew years ago; and I send Christmas cards to absolutely anyone I've ever met! It is something I should curtail as I'm sure not everyone wants to stay in touch with me!
Anyway just before Christmas I got back in touch with someone I used to work with years ago; we had been in a team of 4 in the Civil Service working for a department which if I say it's name out loud everyone will Boo & Hiss! And I would never dare mention the section within that department....
The 4 of us (3 girls, 1 boy) got on so well and had many a night out together at the time. Over the years the 3 girls (now women) left to have families and take new career paths and the boy (now nearly 40) moved on within the Civil Service and we gradually lost touch with him. I finally caught up with him (after a lot of hard work on my part) just before Christmas and we chatted all evening until my voice had gone altogether!
He had lost touch with everyone we used to work with and I surprisingly, had not. That evening I posted a 'photo of us on Facebook and tagged the other 2 members of our team to request a night out, all four of us back together - so much to catch up on.
As soon as the photo went up I had hundreds of messages wanting to meet up (with him mainly, not me!) Someone else took the idea and ran with it, set up a dedicated facebook page and sent out hundreds of virtual invites! There were even messages from Australia from ex-colleagues wishing they could join us.
So next week we are all meeting up at a local Indian restaurant, there will be at least 15, maybe 20 of us and I'm very excited, and also nervous. Some of the people I last saw when I left to have my first baby, nearly 17 years ago. A few I've seen since but not many, I'm sure we've all got older, not all of us have got wiser. But there are none of them I don't want to see , we are all the same vintage, in the late 80's the Civil Service took on a lot of young people and mothballed a few oldies and we really did enjoy working together. Office parties were phenomenal and we were the right age to enjoy them - due to the nature of the job no "outsiders" were allowed in the building so it was a case of "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas" If you can liken Vegas to Norwich??
So in the next week I will crash diet, dye my hair, shave my legs, ebay a new frock and no doubt have a few butterflies in my tummy, wish me luck!
Be yourself Jay, I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time :o)
ReplyDeleteI'm in Facebook, though incognito by using my middle name, there are folk I REALLY don't want contacting me, so I only keep in touch with far-flung family members!
Have fun catching up :o)
Rose H
x
I'm sure you'll all have a great time catching up after so many years. And don't worry, I'm sure everyone else will be just as nervous about it as you! Have fun! And let us all know how you get on!
ReplyDeleteAngie x
The internet has made it so much easier to find and meet new friends. I'm sure you will have a great time catching up with everyone next week and reminiscing about the old days. In the mid to late 80's was a golden age in my work place too.
ReplyDeleteSarah x
Looking forward to getting my Christmas card this year! Although I suppose we've only met 'virtually', so perhaps that doesn't count?
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great time catching up with your former colleagues. I hope you'll blog about it?
I'll certainly be sending you a virtual Christmas card Justine, I'll try to blog about it - I'm getting nervous now!
DeleteIt'll be brilliant and they will all think you look wonderful with your new frock and your smooth legs!!
ReplyDeleteEbayed the frock only to be told it's a jeans type of venue (I don't get out much!)
Deletehow fun!! and how interesting it will be to catch up!
ReplyDeleteThree cheers for social media! That's going to be a great get-together!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness how exciting......Thats how I felt when we were getting ready to go on our trip to see my husbands family. It had been years and a couple of babies ago too!
ReplyDeleteThey are only thinking about you and how fun its going to be to catch up........Heidi
Have fun! If your experience is like mine, everyone will look wonderful - practically the same as when you were younger, except for the few who have let their hair go pale.
ReplyDeleteI worked for our federal tax branch, which I do admit if asked. More people reacted badly when learning that I used to work for Sears, so now I don't admit to that.
Ha ha ha I would now be vomiting with nerves!! Reunions terrify me. I am at least three stone bigger, with more grey hairs than I'd care to point out, an extra chin, a shrivelled brain that can't discuss anything more highbrow than the perils of bringing back Ant and Dec to St night TV....I could go on.
ReplyDeleteGood for you though - I do hope you will post a pic of you all and I wish you oodles of luck for sourcing a fab frock!!!
I am like you - I hate letting go of people. I panic that I will never see them again and will miss them. It drives my family nuts that I am still good friends with a Parisian penpal I met in France when I was 12. I am also in touch with a girl I met in a hotel in Cornwall when she was 8 and I was 11. We still send cards.
I eventually let go of the girl I befriend on a ferry to the south of France when I was 9. My brother said it was just too weird!!!!!!
Ha ha!!!
Happy Sunday
x x x x x x x x
Oh gosh you're the same! I'm definitely 3 stone heavier but have no grey hairs - at least I won't have come wednesday!! Got the frock but it's too tight & now I'm told it's a jeans type of place - frock went back on ebay today!
DeleteI even try to stay in touch with friends my kids made on holiday when they can't be bothered - I'm so afraid to upset someone!
You should be very chuffed with yourself for starting the ball rolling with this - it just needs someone to nudge things along.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for re-connecting with social media. A few years ago I started commenting on another blog based in Chicago, and she on mine. It was months later we discovered a family connection; we were actually second cousins. It brought the whole family together - a summer barbecue with the respective mothers (first cousins) who now keep in touch too.
Wow that's amazing, I'm in touch with relatives and friends all over the world on Facebook and they can see photo's of the children as they grow - you can't do all that by letter!
DeleteI bet it will be a really fab evening!
ReplyDeleteI work in the civil service and have done fr 20 years and things have changed so much. I can't imagine parties like we used to have anymore! Those were the days!
Lisa x
You obviously had the same type of parties Lisa. Those were the days indeed!
DeleteSocial media is a brilliant tool for catching up with old friends, and I do love it from that point of view. However, I had a huge privacy issue (partly my own fault) last year, which resulted in me having to move my blog, and I've drastically cut down my use of both FB and Twitter. Am very VERY wary now of what I put out there (and indeed what other people put out there about me -tagging photos etc).
ReplyDeleteYour evening out sounds brilliant, though, will be fabulous to catch up with so many old friends and colleagues - do let us know how it goes.
I know what you mean Caroline, especially as I'm not very computer literate I try to keep my privacy settings closed down as much as possible but I'm not always sure what I'm doing! It's awful that you had such a problem and had to move your blog.
DeleteThat's the really great side of Facebook. Can't wait to read about how everyone turned out. Someone once told me when you meet old friends: "Everything changes and everything stays the same."
ReplyDeleteThank you for your sweet comment on my blog about the scrapbook.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I'm a little late, but I hope you had a wonderful time at the get together.
Donna