Well, after all, maybe so.
I don’t mean the IPO. We didn’t get any of that stock for the family portfolio, and anyway, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jon Carroll took care of the stock-buying issue (don’t bother) in a recent column.
What I’m talking about is the frustration of being at Facebook’s mercy; the bewildering, nonstop fiddling around; the unfathomable decisions made to let you see the postings of a few people you barely knew 30 years ago, only to decide you really would rather see those of other people you knew 20 years ago but not as well. Is it ever worth the hassle?
It turns out, if you put up with this foolishness long enough there could be a payoff.
I have a Facebook friend named Stephenie, whose back window anchors the narrow view through the trees and across the fence from my urban kitchen window. We met in real time some years ago when she hung a lighted wreath in her window the day I came home from having a mastectomy, and I took it as an omen for good. (She feared it was taken as offensive to someone when she found my note “To the people with the lighted wreath in the window” stuck in her apartment mailboxes, but we got beyond that.)
In addition to being young, smart, beautiful and very busy, Stephenie is a gourmet cook. I know the first part from our several real time encounters, and the gourmet cook part from her Facebook postings, which Facebook is currently allowing me to see.
The latest was an absolutely gorgeous photo of a newly made Raspberry Tart with Whole Vanilla Bean Custard + Apricot and Pear Liquor and Brandy Glaze. Dripping with elegance.
So I added a little comment: “Feel free to call if you absolutely have to get rid of the leftovers;” clicked Enter and forgot about it.
Twenty minutes later the doorbell rang. And lo! there stood a smiling Stephenie with a take-out box of two slices of tart.
I am not divulging the real time address of my culinary source. But for once, thanks, Facebook.