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| ePals | | Date Created: Oct 10, 2005, 03:12 PM |
Someone I know loves living by the refrain, "You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends." That phrase was in place long before the Internet came into being, but has become more true in this age of digital global communication.
I was reminded of this recently while reading about some "ePals" of mine, Dewey and Ron ("ePals" being the term I apply to people that I've "met" online, usually through posts in hobby related forums, with whom I've had more than one communicative encounter with, either by mail or in person). These guys, who have entertained those of us who read the forums with their daily banter, had only met in person once, briefly, last year, during a "Meet and Greet" held at Walt Disney World. However, through their public jibes at each other, and derisive humor, they'd become more than just nameless entities. They became good friends in public. And we all saw it happen. Such good friends that when one of them informed the other that they would be traveling through their State for a couple of days, they ended up making plans for an extended family weekend in which they'd go catch the latest NASCAR race and get to know their families better. And speaking of families, those of us who regularly contribute to that forum feel like family. We share stories with each other, praise each other, pray for each other, laugh and cry. With total strangers who have barely met.
I've made my share of ePals over the years, and I must say that I am consistently amazed at the quality of the people that are out there that may share your hobby. Of course, I tend to gravitate to family-friendly, clean, and generally wholeseome subjects, so a lot of the people I have met tend to be people who fit in those categories. Imagine meeting someone from some other part of the world, who has the same interests you do, completely understands things the way you do, and is a good person to boot? I just went all the way to England to spend a week with someone I really only "knew" from the Internet. Sure, we'd met before and spent some time together in my city during their visit. But here we were, spending time at their home. On their time. If it weren't for the internet, this would not be possible! But the fortunate side of making ePals is having opportunities to actually meet them and see if they're what they seem to be, and thankfully, in my experience, they have been.
Over the past several years, I have made friends with fans of the same music I enjoy, songwriters (even attempted to collaborate on a project a couple of years ago), Disney fans, Star Wars fans. I have personally met a lot of these people, and some are considered good friends! We've eaten together, seen shows together, heck...even travelled cross country! Through holiday cards and birthday wishes and all sorts of other ways, we have all become friends out of our own choosing. Total strangers who were connected simply through the invention of cyberspace. I daresay I sometimes feel I have more in common with my "ePals" - than I do with many of my lifetime friends who have known me for years and even family members who know me for life. With ePals, you get to know the person through the hobby or subject matter you happen to be into. And soon enough you find that they're he ones who actually get it. Who understand.
Last December, I met 27 members of a Disney related forum, all of whom had gathered simply for the sake of this "meet and greet", bringing along family and friends, and getting to know loads of other people who were into the same things they were into. People who got it, who understood. ALong with their children, wives, and significant others. We're not talking geeks here. I'm talking, normal, everyday people of all sorts, from all over the world.
I'm not saying this is going to be true for everyone in every case. But so far, it's been great fun to meet and greet and share real, not just online, experiences with people who share similar interests. And when they're wholesome ones, you get the good people to come out. |
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