A Lucky Man
by FEMAELSTROM, HSM team writer
I really am very lucky.
I have some seventy people on my friends list, and though some are connected through groups or through this magazine, I consider all of them my friends. The other day, they stood up to show that they were ready and willing to help. To some it may not seem like much, but to me it was a big deal, as it showed just how lightning fast these people are willing to stop or pause what they are doing just to help a friend.
Here are the particulars.
A while ago, I got a friend request from a person, let’s call them ‘johndoe’. As is customary for me when I either don’t know the person or may have forgotten their names, I respond by asking politely where we may have met or if we have a common friend. I never got a response, so I denied the request and moved on. I received a second letter from the person at a later date and tried to pull from them where they knew me from. Still no response that was very clear, just a cryptic or nonsensical response.
In my walk through Home, I have found that I have met so many people here that sometimes I forget that I may have met certain people in certain places through certain friends. My endeavor is to find a common ground when faced with a friend request if it comes out of the blue. I will nicely try to find where that person knows me from. At the risk of sounding cocky or arrogant, which I really don’t want, there are rare times that even my association with this magazine brings attention, and I have been recognized in the streets of Home before. I mention this only because though it is not a daily or even a monthly occurance, it is still a way that people can know my name without me knowing theirs.
This is where the adventure begins.
This ‘johndoe’ never stated any answer that made me comfy. Then I didn’t hear from this person for a while, which I was fine with, until the other day.
I was logging in and sitting in the XMB waiting for my screens to load up and see if I got any messages. I did. Two. Both requests from ‘johndoe’ for friendship. I sat and thought about this person and even started to write a response. I backed out and discarded the letter. Then sent out a mass message to my friends asking if anybody knew ‘johndoe’ or if it was an alternate account. The resounding response was ‘no’ to both the thoughts of, if anybody knew this person as a friend (or as somebody aggressive in terms of a forum troll or hacker), or if it was an alternate account. The response was fast.
To put this into perspective, of my friends, the first response came to me with in thirty seconds. I did only send this message to those that were online at the time, so if anybody out there that is on my friends list thinks that they did not get this letter, that is why. I sent it to those that were online at the time.
Back to the tale at hand.
I sat back and watched the responses pour in like water into the Titanic. The total time was around ten minutes for the longest result, with a couple coming in the next night as they had jumped offline when I sent the letter in the first place. Is any of this a complaint? Not at all. My friends saw that I was in need, and responded very, very fast. Whatever they were doing, whether it was a game or Home, or a DVD/BlueRay, however they came to see my message, they responded so fast that it was very obvious that they were committed to helping.
Trust me, my friends are still better.
To those that look at this, and maybe are curious as to why I wrote this whole story in the first place, it is to convey the idea that here in Home, when we have needs and a good set of friends, this is an example of how good those good friends can be. And just how fast the good people of Home come to the aid of friends in need. This is just my group, but we all have a group of friends that, if asked, would probably come running. If not, then perhaps better friends are needed.
Home is a community, and as a community, we share the needs and burdens of our friends. I was lucky to have this group that came to help so fast, and would gladly return the favor for anybody here that needed it. Home is a place that has the great ability to give us, for free, the landscape to make friends with people who are quality — kind and full of giving. Yes, there are some bad folk out there, but when you find the good people, it really flowers into something greater than the sum of its programming. Thank you, all my friends. I’m glad you are all on my list, each and every one of you.
Just one last thought before I leave this topic. The other day, Lockwood released a group of freebies in the gift machine. Frankly, I am the type of person that does not ever weigh a person’s value by the gifts they give — to me, it has always been the thought that counts and the mere fact that someone thought about me to give me a gift is what is touching. It was so moving to see the number of gifts that I got. It again showed that even with people you have not spoken to in a while, there is still the sense that they never forget you, they are just busy in their real lives or doing Home based things here. This is further proof that the connections we make here on Home go far beyond the screen, after the unit has been powered down.
July 13th, 2013 by FEMAELSTROM | 3 comments
FEMAELSTROM came to Home in June 2011 and never wanted to leave, even at weekly maintenance when he usually gets booted. The sand box environment appeals to the explorer in him and often is out and about as he ‘geeks’ out dressed like some sort of sci-fi character, while he people watches in popular public spaces. An artist and writer, FEMAELSTROM loves making friends and meeting people. He loves sci-fi and decorating Home estates and loves to respond “here” when people ask “where are you from?” in public places.
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The friends I have here in Home are very real to me. We laugh and cry together, we talk about everything under the sun, and even though we may never really meet in “real life” some of us see each other on camera and Skype, and I would jump at the chance to actually meet them face to face.
Friendship is based on trust, like any good relationship. It takes a lot of trust to be apart from people yet feel free to speak to them openly. Home has given us this ability, and in doing so opened many people up. Trust can be abused, yes, but even that is a learning experience for us if we push past the hurt and move on.
Nice article Strom.
Totally agree with you two, Burbie and Strom. Home can be so therapeutic for some. For someone that had a sheltered and limited world outside of family, Home has helped me grow and learn first had about real friendship. Though I don’t have a full list of friends and have had to delete a few bad apples, I wouldn’t trade the pain or heartbreak for the real and lasting friends I have made through Home. YAY to FRIENDS!!!
Good article
Actually if you can make friends on, home, it just proves a point that you can make friends and perhaps you not as socially inept as home users are made out to be. The only thing in home is that I’ve been added not because what I bring to they lives but what I bring to they home lives. Example of that is rewards. I had no problem playing the dust slay mini game, and have beat it repeatedly. Happen to mention it in a chat room on another home site. Next I got a bunch of friends requests including ones that asked if id log in as them and get them the rewards they craved so much. Again I was one of the first to buy the mansion, again someone asked me what I thought of it, again people saw the chat and again friends requests galore. Friends in home can be friends just because of a standing it gives them or ability to get something they couldn’t before. I’m quite lucky as I’ve got good friends on home that would take 30 seconds to reply to a message but could any of them be friends outside of home, one or two perhaps. I’ve very lucky outside of home that I have friends that are more extended family that friends.