For Those Who Would Burn Down Farmville

(You may have to mull this one over awhile...)

Some people at Facebook criticize their friends who are into Farmville, Cafeville or other games and surveys. There are even groups you can join with titles like "I Don't Care About your Farm, or Your Fish, or Your Park, or Your Mafia!!!" When you join those groups, they show up on your friends' home pages and well, I'm sure some feelings have been hurt.

Myself? I generally do none of the surveys and activities at Facebook--I find I don't have time or the desire. Yet I have Facebook friends who are into them, especially Farmville. Big time. You go to their wall and that's all you see--cute little pictures of farm animals, barns, houses and pastures galore.

And that's the sort of thing which makes my other friends wild. You know, the way everybody's Farmville pictures clutter-up the home pages of their friends. Who cares that we can click "Hide" so we don't see all the Farmville (etc.) goings-on? Many people just find Farmville stupid, thus assuming anyone who enjoys it is stupid, too.

And there is the problem. There is the rub.

I spoke with someone recently who stated emphatically that this whole United Sates is lulling people into a constant state of distraction with tv shows like Dancing With the Stars and Deal or No Deal and the long list of reality shows. She'd been reading some "what's wrong with the USA" books lately and this was a biggie to her.

And ok, I can see the points of the annoyed Facebook people and the woman who, in one fell swoop, labeled everyone who likes reality shows as being duped. I can see their side.

But I can also see the other side. Namely, we all need downtime. We all have different ways of relaxing. We all have unique tastes and ways to have fun. And who am I--who is anyone--to say that my way of relaxing is brilliant/more intelligent/a wiser use of time than yours?

Who amongst us has the right to say reading or sewing or hiking is a laudable hobby, but Farmville or reality shows or computer games are pathetic, total distractions/wastes of time/brain robbers? Isn't there a whole lot of pride in those kinds of judgements?

Personally, I think so.

And of course, I must add that any hobby or downtime activity can be overdone. Anything in Life can become an obsession and whisk us away from our responsibilities. Yet even there, it's not the hobby which becomes bad in itself, but rather, our lack of self-control has become the problem, the negative thing. And steps should be taken to correct it, to right our leaning (or sinking) ship.

But still, I do not have the right to criticize your hobby just because it's not something I enjoy or understand. And mostly, that's all I'm saying.


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"Love one another..."