When you can be anything you want.

I, in all honesty, don't know how I can stand Facebook these days. But, the truth is, I am hugely addicted. My excuse is that, without any doubt, it is a useful tool for people like me, living far away from home(s). And the more countries you leave behind, the more friends are out there somewhere, and there simply is no time in our lives to send regular emails, let alone call each other. But I still like to know what they are all up to.

And, despite quite a few very irritating things about it, Facebook never really annoyed me too much, until recently, when some very bizarre things started happening, for which i can't think of any logical explanation. Besides endless pictures of (frigging) cats that I simply can't stand any longer, the one particular thing that really bugs me these days is this fake heart-breaking story. For instance, the one about a man asking for a divorce and then realizing he still loved his wife. Sadly the wife dies, and the mistress slaps him across the face, first having checked his forehead for signs of fever. (please refer to the extract below...)

I mean, come on, people! For goodness sake!

Do you know how many people left comments under this incredibly badly written made-up piece of crap? Thousands! It is so obviously fake it makes me laugh, but people actually cried. I guess, I should not be too surprised. People, in their majority, are depressingly, unbearably, hopelessly stupid. But what interests me here, is who comes up with this sort of crap and most importantly...why? To generate spam? To collect likes and shares? But for what? There is no money in it, surely, and no fame either as there never is the original name under such a confession.

There are some other popular ones floating about...Like the Russian letter about a baby being born on an aeroplane, being delivered by an unemployed young woman. (Not sure what her employment status has to do with the price of fish. )

What I wonder about though, is whether these made-up heartbreaking stories, clearly aimed at getting an emotional reaction, could eventually cause a major compassion fatigue, turning most of us into cold monsters, completely and utterly indifferent to the real life pain and suffering. I hope I am still able to tell the difference between a real situation and made-up crap like the above...But, sometimes, I ask myself..what if  it me who is too cynical to spare a tear for this story of a poor cheating bastard and his dying wife? What if all the 2,000+ commentators who cried and felt for this situation are not actually stupid but just very kind and compassionate?

I am only kidding.

Of course I never asked myself that, because, come on!!! These people are stupid. While they are sitting on their fat arses in front of their laptops, leaving emotional comments under a post generated by some other unknown moron, their elderly neighbour might be alone in his lat, with no family or friends to visit him. Their mother is probably waiting for a phone call, or their real life friend might be depressed, needing someone to talk to. But they sit there crying for something that clearly, never happened. Because, it is easier this way, isn't it? This is something they can get emotional about for a split second, before moving on to a cute picture of a cat with a silly caption, and, voila!
life is all great again. No effort required, no proper emotional involvement. Yet, they feel good about themselves, for as far as they are concerned, they are kind. And compassionate.