Facebook is my new Floyd's

A couple months ago, at the urging of an Irish friend of mine, I joined Facebook. I resisted because I associated the social networking site with Internet and PDA addicted teens, those masters of the text message who communicate banalities in abbreviated code while bowling or driving daddy’s SUV. Which is a crusty way of saying I felt too old.
But my friend can be persistent and kept teling me about how wonderful it was to share photos with family across the ocean and to make new buddies and to know just by looking at your computer what somebody you met once in Pittsburgh was having for breakfast.
Sure, it sounded like a the Kathy and Judy Show on WGN - or a perky cult. But it was Christmas, and I was feeling lonely and ripe for joining one.
Much to my astonishment I took to Facebook, well much like Patty Hearst did to the Symbionese Liberation Army (Google it).
In less than two months I have made myself more than 130 online pals. They include artists and media personalities in Chicago, college kids, a bar owner, an engineer in New Orleans, family in South Bend and the West Coast, musicians in Ireland,a TV anchor in Kansas City, and even a guy with the same name as mine who is a rapper in Milwaukee. Word.
I also joined a Facebook group, "I Survived Carpentersville," which was created by Holly Poole, 24. Poole grew up in the Ville, was living with her folks in Alabama for a couple years and moved back to town last summer. She works at a Caribou Coffee in Elgin.
"I joined Facebook just to reconnect with old friends, but I made the group kind of as a joke. Everyone from Carpentersville has a funny story about something crazy happening in the Ville. It's fun to talk about places we used to go and the things we used to there. Originally I invited literally like 5 or 10 people in the group, but I had no idea so many people would end up joining... I know it sounds silly, but you meet someone and you find out that they've lived in Carpentersville, it's almost like you have an instant respect for them," she said.
So far 345 people have joined Poole's group, with about two dozen posting on topics that include name checking the section of the town where you lived, the first time you did _____ it happened in the Ville, and things that used to be in town.
I added to the latter, that Jamba Juice, Kung Fu Panda Express and Believe in Something Cellular used to be Floyd’s.
“Ah, Floyd’s. What a great place to meet up with friends. I liked the steaks and libations, the famous Floyd’s cheese spread,” said former village president Mark Boettger, who, unless he is using an alias he’s not telling me about, is not on Facebook.
“Thursday nights, I think was open mic with Bruce Waters and his musician friends who would stop in and jam. That was always fun. The characters you would see coming in were always interesting. And it was just like being with family when you walked into the lounge,” he added.
Floyd's closed in 2005. Brian Jason, whose dad, Vic, owned the place, now runs the Walleye Grill in Huntley, The Barn in Barrington and the recently opened Barley House in Algonquin Commons. While visiting Jason's new spot I ran an idea by him: Facebook is the new Floyd’s, but without the calories or the Harvey Wallbangers (Google it).
Jason laughed, but sort of saw my point.
Of course, for Floyd's, at least most of the time you had to be wearing pants. On Facebook, you can be in bed in your undies while you small talk online with your pals all over the planet. And you can have your friends with you all the time if you have Facebook on your phone.
It's an electronic security blanket in a lonely world. And your community is no longer defined by geography - which is cool and long as you venture out to a real Floyd's of your own every now and then.
Otherwise, you're just another dork with a bag of Cheetos.