Do you hate the newly coined word “trending” as much as I do? My blood pressure rises when I open a page on my computer and the sidebar has a block of what is “Trending Now.”
And it gets worse when I see Who or What is “trending now.”
Trending Now
- 1. Selena break up This child is breaking up with another child – Wow!
- 2. Jamie Lynn Spears
- 3. Mister Rogers
- 4. Casey Anthony
- 5. Bankruptcy affects millions of people but it is not top of the list
- 6. Jesse James
- 7. Kim Kardashi...Photos
- 8. Foreclosures People losing homes is not as popular as Justin Bieber
- 9. D.B. Cooper
- 10. Hurricane Eugene A hurricane in the Pacific – who cares?
What is the definition of trending? Is that another way of saying this is what the dumbed- down American public is obsessed with today? When have you seen someone of substance on the “trending” list? Is that the goal of our culture – to be on the “trending list?”
What must one do to get on the “trending list?” Perhaps one would first need to get on the A-List? What is the A-list and is there a B, C. D, all the way down to XYZ list? Who selects the members of these lists? What are the criteria?
All of this reminds me of an experience I had one summer just after sixth grade. I was sought after by several classmates, girls who wanted to come to the farm and ride my horse and enjoy country life. We had a great time. The mothers of the girls drove them about 15 miles one way so they could come and spend the day with me.
I entered junior high school in the fall as did my friends who clustered with others in their little cliques, but I was not included. Was I “trending” in the summer, but when autumn came and school began, I dropped off the list? Through no fault of my own, did I suddenly drop down to E or F or even G on the “trending” list?
That was when I learned to seek friends with more substance. I had few real friends in high school, but the ones I did have were solid gold. My dear friend, Jeannine, is someone who will always have a special place in my heart. I introduced her to her future husband Jerry. She asked me to be her maid of honor at her wedding a year later. Our friendship lasted all her life. Jeannine met the criteria for my A-List.
Do you have an A-List? What are your criteria for your A-list?
If you were choosing, who would you place on the “trending now” list?
