Just Friend Me....I Can't Take the Rejection

Facebook makes me flash back to being 16 again.


Just a few months ago I watched this girl I went to high school with join Facebook and start “friending” everyone…..except me. What did I do wrong? We were friends back then I think? Did she not remember me? Do I have internet bad breath? Finally after a month, I broke down and “friended” her. And guess what? She accepted.

I worried at first that maybe she gave me the charity “friend.” I actually got a little angry and sent her a message, “What is up with waiting 30 days to friend me?”

In all essence, I was 16 again. 30 years later and uncountable generations of technology and I am stressing over whether someone clicks a button on their Facebook page.

Being 16 today and talking to girls is a breeze compared to 1980. They can text, IM, and Facebook. It is not nearly as difficult as say Kevin Arnold passing a love note to Winnie Cooper.

I remember being 16 and watching some girl walk the halls at Mauldin High School. Basically looking like I had a restraining order against me by staying 50 feet away at all times. Hoping that maybe at lunch or in a class she will smile at me. The job of every love sick 16 year old boy was to strategically manufacture some organized encounter that she thinks is completely random.

Back in 1980 my bedroom was like the War room at the White House. I had charts and graphs. Class schedules of about 23 girls and rudimentary drawings of their neighborhoods. Me and my friends were like the Joint Chiefs of Staff!

Here is how I asked out a girl at 16. First I would stand beside the phone for about 10 minutes. Then I would dial 3 numbers and hang up. 5 numbers and hang up. 7 numbers and get one ring…hang up. This is before caller id thank God. Then after another 20 minutes of agony I would let it ring a few times and when someone answered…….. I would hang up.

I’m getting nauseous just thinking about it.

My 17 year old daughter is navigating the dating scene and my 14 year old son is just navigating being cool! I wouldn’t trade places with them for any amount of money.

It is a miracle I ever got married. Now that I think about it, April asked me out first.

The Greatest College Basketball Player of All Time

A few years ago I took one of my board members (let’s just call him Ralph) to a Y Christian Leadership Conference. On the plane Ralph discussed that he loved Carolina so much that if they lost, it ruined his day, and if the Heels lost to Duke it ruined his week. Ralph commented that he hated Duke and everything about Duke. “I’m a grown man, and I hate that the success of my week is based on the success of Carolina sports,” he lamented.

Oh there might have been a few other comments about Coach K being related to Satan, but his struggle with all things Duke was a point of contention for him.

At the conference the conversation continued and I laughed and pointed across the room, “that’s Greg Koubek, he played for Duke in the early 90’s.”Greg at the time was a Y Director in Albany, NY.

“I want to meet him,” Ralph said.

“Are you sure? I don’t need an altercation at a Christian Leadership Conference,” I joked.

“Just shut up and introduce us,” he shouted.

So we walked over and thus started the friendship of Ralph the Tar Heel and Greg the Dookie. (I’m a Tar Heel fan too so it’s fun to spell it that way.)

They hit it off quick, sitting and talking for hours. They even got where they could joke back and forth. Greg had a deep appreciation for Ralph and Ralph a genuine friendship with Greg.

That evening we all went to dinner. In the midst of a pretty normal evening I state, “Greg, the greatest college basketball player of all time is from Shelby.” (I was talking about David Thompson.)

Greg interrupted, “That is impossible, the greatest college basketball player of all time was Christian Laettner.”

Luckily they didn’t have to call the police and Greg and Ralph’s friendship ended as quick as it started!

This is Why You Should Never Fall in Love

It all starts so innocently when a friend says, “I have someone I want you to meet. She is really cool. No pressure and no strings attached. Let’s just all go out and have a good time.” That sounds simple enough and exactly what you are looking for. OK, I against my better judgment I went along for the ride.

But then you find that you have so much in common. She really understands you. The more time you spend together the more she amazes you. She gets better every time you see her. It doesn’t take long before you even start saying……. Oh-No, did I just drop an “L” Bomb? You even tell your friends about her. You even start thinking about how this is exactly what you have been looking for. Your mom even notices and asks about her. Music is clearer, food taste better and the sun shines so much brighter.


Then March rolls around and she disappoints you a couple of times and then “KABOOM” she breaks your heart. She rips it out and steps on it. You just sit there devastated and destroyed. This is why you should never ever fall in love.

Notre Dame’s basketball team did this to me this year. They weren’t supposed to be that good. Then they up and won a few early games. Mid season comes and they win a big game on TV, all your friends are buzzing about how good they are playing, they hit the top 25, you’re wearing the T-Shirts and then Sunday night they lay a big fat egg. The tires screech to a halt and you cry yourself to sleep.

That’s it for me. I will never ever tell another team I love them……Maybe.

Another 70's Music Post

OK, the XM 70's radio channel is creating quite the debate lately. A few weeks back it had me discussing with my daughter the 5 best slow dance songs. Friday night, my 16 year old daughter was ridiculing the station from the back seat. And in the course of an hour, we heard five of the 15 worst songs of the 70's. (Too many to limit to 10)

15. You Light Up My Life - Debbie Boone
14. Candy Man - Sammy Davis , Jr.
13. Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks
12. The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace
11. Bad Blood - Neil Sedaka and Elton John

IN THE ACTORS SHOULDN'T SING CATEGORY
10. Don't Give Up On Us Baby - David Soul
9. Let Her In - John Travolta

8. Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglass
7. Having My Baby - Paul Anka
6. Muskrat Love - Captain and Tennille
5. MacArthur Park - Donna Summer

THE WORST OF THE WORST
4. Convoy - CW McCall
3. Float On - Floaters
2. Billy Don't Be a Hero - Bo Donaldson and the Haywoods
1. Disco Duck - Reek Dees