MySpace: Official Car Wreck of The Internets

Just a random thought I had at lunch today while browsing friends' profiles on MySpace...that site is the "Car Wreck" of the internet...no matter how much it disgusts me, I check it every time I happen to pass by. You just can't look away, not matter how superficial or obscene it may be. Teenage girls trying to be porn stars in-the-making, older women hunting younger D ever day, teenage (and older) guys trying to hit on said girls/women, and everyone taking a ridiculous amount of pictures...of themselves.

I'm all for having fun, but how do people afford to get out and drink that much?? Am I just in an extremely lower tax bracket than most people my age?! There must be some MySpace Union that meets secretly and lobbies at bars for lower drink prices/longer hours, and afterward the whole Union meets up at a predetermined destination to party and drink some more. It's a bit ironic, in a way...when I first moved down, there were plenty of opportunities to enjoy yourself...since Mom and Dad were footing the bill. But nowadays I wonder: Have I "grown up" too fast?! I certainly don't feel like I've become an old man, but things like bars and concerts and partying have their place, and I usually only do it once every month or two. In some ways, I feel like I'm missing out, but my bets are hedged on the fact that most people I know are burning up those credit card limits faster than they can drink a 40...and that maybe there's some long-term sense in what I'm doing...or not doing.

There's also this feeling I keep getting that reminds me of a line from The Dark Knight:

"...that when the chips are down, these uh...'civilized people', they'll eat each other."

I don't want to sound overly negative, but if the chips were down, would the majority of these people still be considered "friends"? I would like to think so, but chances are good that when things go awry, it doesn't take much to turn these folks on one another...believe me, I've been on the receiving end of that before. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't feel that connecting people via the internet makes them that much closer, it's just another way of keeping apace. The circle of friends I have right now is small and pretty close-knit...they're all people I would die for, and anyone outside of that circle is considered an acquaintance...and yet most of these folks on MySpace are giving shout-out's regarding how much they "love their friends, etc.". I guess I'm just old-fashioned, but my theory still stands: To see the best of people, you have to see them at their worst...and believe me, at their worst, most of these MySpace "friends" would cut and run out on many of the people they call "friends". Please feel free to call my 'cynical' at this point, if you'd like...it's a title I gladly wear, not proudly, but at least without shame.

So Carpe Diem, MySpacers...drink up, be merry, live for the moment, and if you have a clue as to what I'm missing, be sure to let me know.