Lynn and I are incredibly fortunate that our daughter is who she is. She’s not perfect (neither are we), but she’s got some priorities sorted out. She hates the smell of any kind of booze and doesn’t understand people who do drugs. YAY!

Tonight we were talking about stupid things her classmates in college have posted to Facebook and other social networking sites. One girl refers to herself as a “slut” because she enjoys a lot of sex with a lot of guys. Another talks about being constantly “stoned”.

They don’t seem to understand that those things don’t go away. Employers are already using social media searches to help screen potential hires. I’ve done it myself when I was hiring at Blockbuster. At least one person didn’t get hired after I watched a video on his Facebook page. In it, he brags about calling in sick to his then employer so he could hang with his friends and get stoned.

If a store manager at Blockbuster does that, how much more enthusiastic do you suppose corporate or governmental digging might be? It seems safe to say that both the digital record and those who troll it will only become more pervasive as technology advances.

As Lynn pointed out, when her and I were young, only thirty or forty people would see you dancing naked on the coffee table. Now, it’s thirty or forty million, and some of them probably aren’t going to hire you because of it. Technology makes it possible.

When we were young, there was a pretty good chance that your youthful high spirits (stupidity), would stay safely in your past. Today’s technology can bring your past to life.

To make it easier to remember, here’s a little rhyme to keep in mind.

IT’S OKAY TO GET TOASTED, JUST MAKE SURE IT AIN’T POSTED!

Cheers, Winston