Living Outside The Lines: “Charlie’s Angels and Social Media”

This week’s column is brought to you in the third person via a very unique stand in, Charlie…

Once there was an Angel named Becky.  She was busy, too busy to indulge in any of that social media nonsense.  But one day, she finally caved to peer pressure and found herself on both Twitter and Facebook.

Imagine her surprise when she discovered how much fun it was connecting with old friends as well as making new friends in this exciting and unchartered territory.  Enter two new Angels, Kristie and Beth, both from Bakersfield, California.  Kristie and Beth were already good friends, but happily added the newest Angel to their Twitter verse.

The three Angels exchanged comical dialogue on a regular basis. As their friendship grew, they made the bold move from Twitter follower to Facebook friend.  They even discussed a name for themselves.  One Angel suggested, “The Three Stooges”, but another thought, “Charlie’s Angels” a much more pleasing moniker.  Who is their Charlie, you ask?  Well, he’s the one telling the story, of course.

One day a truck hit Becky and she was badly hurt.  Beth was hanging with her friend Mickey the Mouse when she heard the awful news.  She immediately thought, “Awe, it’s too bad we can’t go see her,” followed by, “That’s crazy, San Marcos is 1500 miles from Bakersfield.”

Days passed but Beth just could not get away from the idea of visiting Becky.  Finally, she decided to approach Kristie with her plan.  Surely Kristie would tell her she was crazy and talk her out of such nonsense.

Much to Beth’s surprise, Kristie jumped completely on board with the idea!  Now the only thing left was telling Becky, but how do you tell someone you’ve never met that you want to drive across the country to visit?  Being the brave Angel she is, Kristie volunteered to brief Becky.

Becky was completely stunned when she heard the news.  These two Angels, whom she’d only chatted with in 120 characters or less, were concerned enough about her well being that they were willing to make that grueling trip?  Bring it on!

And so Beth and Kristie set out on their journey.  They left Bakersfield on a Wednesday; drove straight to San Marcos, stayed the night, spent several hours with Becky on Thursday and immediately thereafter turned around and drove home to California.  Now that is some seriously selfless love for your fellow Angel!

Their time together was entirely too short.  The Angels chatted, laughed and carried on like schoolgirls.  Casual observers would never have guessed they’d only just met.

Becky is fully recovered now, but still amazed at exactly how far out of their way those two Angels went just for her.   Becky’s only regret is not telling the story of her Angel friends sooner.  She blames Charlie.  J

A special thank you to Charlie for sharing the story of how I met my social media friends in person.  He told the story much better than I could have.

Until Next Time,

Becky J Miller & Charlie

Warrior Princess & Leader of Angels