You know what I'm talking about. Someone posts a photo of (or becomes friends with) a former flame, friend, classmate or business associate, and you spend the rest of the night finding that person; looking through their friends; checking out their spouse, finding them on LinkedIn, checking out their personal web site...
Seriously, I'm not the only one who does that, right? Right??
Of course you never actually contact the person you are checking out because, well that would be weird. Especially if you haven't spoken to the individual in years, or in fact you didn't actually like the person (because seriously, who wants to be friends with the person who bullied them in junior high school)?
Last night, after a friend's mom posted some pictures (see portion of the photo above), I was inspired to find my best friend from elementary school – a girl I lost touch with after she moved away and we both went to junior high school. I've looked for her in the past, but had never been able to find her - until now.
A search on Facebook gave me a few options, but one had the right combination of friends (brother, father, etc) to make me 99% sure I had found her. Then, after my customary perusal I did something unusual – I sent her a note.
I'm not entirely sure why I wrote to this woman I haven't seen for over 25 years, and who now lives on the other side of the country. I don't expect to revive a friendship which faded when we were 12, but I have always wondered how her life turned out and if she is happy.
So I guess that's why I did it. And I hope she considers writing me back.
In the meantime – who have you checked out online? And have you ever tried to make contact?