Facebook "Friends?"

Last night, I was helping out my mom's friend at a party.  She needed an extra pair of hands, and mine were available.  So I picked up plates and made sure ice buckets were not water buckets, ate some delicious holiday desserts, and went home with some pocket money.

In addition, I went home with a thought.  After part of the dinner order (for forty people) was discovered MIA, the hosts and helpers felt mutually embarrassed.  Forty hungary people and no pulled pork sandwiches!  Gasp!  My way of dealing with the problem was to stand as close to the wall as possible and not get in anyone's way.  It worked pretty well for my purposes.

The catering lady, though, did not share my luxury.  She had to call her boss, of only three weeks and a day as of yesterday, and try to explain the situation.  The party host, though, took the phone and explained herself (Please understand, this party host is very kind but was nervous and thus responded).  After three phone calls and many more furrowed brows, the food arrived.

At the end of the night, I thanked the caterer for all of her trouble.  Sweetly, she accepted the thanks and left me with the advice: "Enjoy being a kid, it may not feel carefree but compared to being an adult, teenage problems aren't that big of a deal."  Pretty common advice, but it resonated with me.

Almost 24 hours later, I'm still thinking about that: are teenage problems, in general, less stressing than adult problems?  Obviously, it depends on the case, but I cannot believe it.  I read an article that further strengthened my thoughts.

The New York Times reported on cyber-bullying.   (HERE is the article)  It tells the stories of teens both as targets and bullies.  One story involved a boy who didn't even use the internent for social media; three "friends" made up a Facebook and targeted the innocent boy.  On the impersonated account, the three boys sent hurtful messages to peers.  The boy #1 was blamed, as unknowingly his name was attached to hurtful remarks.  Seeing his son suffer from shunning, Mom took matters into her own hand.

Is losing friends, maintaining an awkward relationship with the mother that cared too much, and navigating the mystery to adolescent boys that is deodorant, easier than paying taxes?  Yes, it is exhausting to work two jobs; as it is exhausting to study for finals.  Kids, teens, adults, seniors: we all have problems.  Whether it be messing up an order or Logging in, problems are problems.  There are not kid problems and adult problems, there are people problems.  Here's wishing people solutions...