Networking and Long Distance Relationships

The best and worst thing about social media is people are close in the sense they can make comments and far away in the sense you cannot visit. This was going to be a ghost writing exercise with two of my favorite people met through this site.

They live far away. We can't meet in a central location. Maybe Chicago although I am not flying on what the TSA predicts will be the busiest day this year. Watch out for flight cancellations.

I can pick up the phone to speak with them instead of cultivating a scenario where we are "Together". Meet people who inspire fan fiction. My ghostwriting is not done for work. I certainly would not need a virtual assistant.

There are so few comments I can respond to them all. Sometimes it takes half an hour to respond to all the comments. That is a problem worth having. How could I complain that many people enjoyed what I wrote and I have to carry on a conversation?

There are those who complain they have hundreds if not thousands of connection requests. Go through them. I removed all my Sent Requests on Facebook. There were only six. If they haven't responded by now (these were pre pandemic) it isn't happening.

There are people in different areas who keep me engaged. I have reason to visit Montana although nothing is official right now. There are lovely people far away. That is better than when I was surrounded by many who were distant. They were physically close and socially might as well have lived in Antarctica.

There are new employees on the job. It takes a little time to get them up and running. Hopefully they will find their way. It is enjoyable to deal with good people in my presence and others who are in different areas that I cannot see easily. We cannot meet without embarking on a monumental road trip.

Not with gas prices as they are now. New people take me into different arenas and that is a good feeling. Some can be met peripherally and help chart a course all the time even when they are not always around. They are close enough and it will enhance the other relationships.

Meet people who create a ripple effect. That was the paradigm shift in my life. After dealing with many who sunk like a stone to the bottom of the lake one colleague changed everything. We are out of contact and it might be strange looking him up since we worked together for two months many years ago while he sought a position in his field.

I have thanked him. Some people are owed more gratitude than they will ever realize. I always recall a classmate who heard my presentations in class and said "That's good." It was how she felt about that particular answer.

At that time, no one was encouraging me in the least. And yet, they expected me to go to college. Adults were not supportive. They saw me a whipping post. That's fine for an Allman Brothers song. It never made them feel better and made me feel infinitely worse.

Break the cycle. I don't treat new employees as poorly as adults treated me for no good reason. I can surround myself with better people even if they live in different time zones. If they are not a call away they can get back to me and make all the difference.