On the subject of unfollowing

The guy I unfollowed had a birthday today.

We had started to get to know each other in the murky terrain of online dating, but then he met The One and did the honorable thing of telling me right away. Suddenly, my Facebook page, where I had recently enjoyed photos of his dog, was offering a steady diet of newly-infatuated-couple pictures and I-finally-found-my-true-love posts, and hell, I was disappointed.

But he hadn’t committed any online dating crime or hurt me in any intentional way, so Unfriending seemed, well, unfriendly. He became, instead, the object of my first Unfollowing.

Soon enough, other Unfollows followed. The two relatives with the outrageous political views I did not care to read. The braggy, former high school classmate who had never really acknowledged how she picked on me back then. The friend I enjoy having coffee with once in a while, who became judgmental and snarky on social media about some mutual friends.

It’s been a lesson, I think, in curating what I choose to pay attention to. In a world full of rampant inequities and human rights violations that demand my attention, I have the freedom, maybe even a responsibility, to look away from the minor annoyances.

Which brings me to today, and learning that apparently, Unfollowing does not eliminate annual birthday announcements. So here I am, wishing a happy birthday to someone who, though I hold no ill will toward, I still have no desire to see his kissy birthday moments.

Petty, or practical?

Some people may say, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

But sweat it?

Honey, I don’t even see it.