Facebook Friends, M. Ömer Gölgeli
Ömer Gölgeli did not want to be my Facebook friend. Not at first anyway.
When I made my request to be his friend he replied he only had people as Facebook friends who he had met face-to-face. I knew this wasn't true because I had seen he had friends from all over the world.
The real reason he resisted becoming my Facebook friend because he thought I was an old geezer, which I am. Also because his priority was in meeting attractive young women, which I am not.
He had some pretty good reasons.
At the time I was new to Facebook and thought it would be fun to have a friend what was a twenty-something, Sunni Muslim, from Turkey. Believe it or not, here aren't many of those folks in my neighborhood. I thought it would be fun to get to know one.
So I wrote him back and told him I had bought a plane ticket to Turkey so we could meet face-to-face. He did not believe me, of course, but I got his attention.
He relented and allowed me into his circle of Facebook friends. I am glad he did.
Though we don’t communicate at huge lengths, we do exchange messages fairly regularly. He refers to me as "Old Man", which I might take offense at except I am an old man and he seems to regard me with a certain fondness.
We have had discussions about politics, religion, and what is going on in the world. It has been interesting to see the world from his perspective. Our exchanges have certainly enhanced my life.
Ömer was one of the first Facebook friends I made from outside of my country. I am glad he relented and allowed me into his circle of Facebook friends. He has certainly given me a broader view of the world.
Now now now “old man”, you’ve got some rights and wrongs.
Let me tell my side of the story then.
First of all, trust me my intention was not “meeting attractive young women” at all. Though after a while things changed in ways i couldn’t imagine at first, the reason I was there was just fun.
Indeed, by that time, i’ve found it weird to see you there, in my profile. I thought “what can i have in common with a man in USA at that age and with such beards”. I didn’t want indeed. And by the time i was really intending to keep my friends list at a minimum degree of “cyber” ones. Then after talking to you, you turned out to be someone interesting, intellectual, joking et cetera…
I’ve yielded.
I’m glad i did so. After a bit of conversations, watching your notes and status messages, it was obvious that you really are a funny, intellectual, open-minded person who also has wisdom in his words. Besides, we could communicate and actually talk. Looking the world from your perspective also felt different. It was the look of someone more experienced. Not something you encounter everyday.
Long story short, I’m glad being able to make it to your blog and being considered as a friend, even if it’s a facebook-friend. It’s a pleasure talking to you.
(:
PS: I’ve never fallen for the “plane” thing. Also, didn’t realize you had a blog.