Facebook played tricks on me

When covid first came on the scene in 2020, Facebook became a pit of vipers for me.  Suddenly people were arguing about what was true and what wasn't, the right wing folks being especially pushy.  Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, but they wouldn't let the other side have a different opinion... at ALL.  I never tried to argue with any of them myself, but I let it bother me, and I went a little crazy.  I went to my nurse-practitioner at the clinic and told her I thought I was getting dementia; she questioned me for quite a while and said, "Most people get a little forgetful as they age, but I don't think you have dementia.  I think you  have depression."

Of course all this took place in winter, and I have always had some winter depression; I guess all the fuss on Facebook made it worse.  I ended up getting a prescription for depression which has helped me every since:  if you don't believe me, ask my husband!  It isn't a "happy pill" that would work as a street drug, at least I wouldn't think so; it just keeps me on an even keel, and my winter depression has faded into the background.

I didn't want to leave Facebook back then, but I made some changes.  I stopped following all the people who constantly posted their opinions (some even sent me private messages, but I found you can shut them out of Messenger).  They were still Facebook friends, but I wouldn't be seeing them unless I actually went to their pages.  That also helped immensely.  Of course, Facebook got pretty boring, with so many friends unfollowed, but it helped.

For the last six months or so, I haven't been seeing many of my friends; I'd just see a few of them, the same posts over and over.  I first noticed my friend Jessica wasn't showing up on my feed and hadn't for awhile.  She was one of my favorite people when I worked at Kohls and I want to keep in touch with her.  I knew very well that I hadn't unfollowed her, because she's too smart to be spreading hate and discord on Facebook.  I checked:  Lo and behold, she was somehow unfollowed, and I know I didn't do it.

Finally, being so tired of seeing the same posts day after day from a very small group of my friends, I decided I'd better see just who I was following and who I wasn't.

Good grief, most of them were unfollowed, and they were not among the trouble-makers at all!  I spent about thirty minutes going down the list of my friends and "following" them again.  Apparently Facebook messed with something and decided to make me unfollow most everybody there.  I need to go back and fix some more, because I got weary of fixing the list and stopped for awhile yesterday.

So I have most of my people showing up now.  Whew!

On another note:  I have a blogger friend, Margaret, who is also on Facebook.  She ordered herself some socks for Christmas.  Bomba socks, to be exact.  I had never heard of such a brand, but some of her friends commented about the glorious comfort of Bomba socks.  I googled Bomba; because it's the gifting season, they had 40% off.  That didn't make them cheap.  Still, I wanted to try them.  I argued with myself, reminding myself that I only wear socks for 5 or 6 months of the year.  I looked over the website and found that for every pair of socks they sell, they donate a pair of the same socks to charity.  If for any reason you don't like them, you can return them and get your money back.

So I got a package of four, and they didn't arrive in a timely manner.  I emailed Bomba to see what happened; the next day I received their response:  They were sending me another package of four, and if the first ones arrived, I could keep both orders;  I did receive both, making my eight pairs of socks quite a bargain after all.  If any  of my big-footed relatives would like a pair, I'd gladly give them one.  I don't want to take these off, they're so warm and comfy!  Margaret, I know you'll be reading this.  I love these socks, and I'm glad you and your friends introduced me to them.  Until now, I wondered what the big deal was about a pair of socks.

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