In America, if a guy is interested in you, he usually asks for your phone number. He might even add you as a friend on Facebook, though he’ll never ask in person if you have an account. He’ll be coyer and ask for your name.
But here in Oxford, it is a different ball game. Instead of being asked for my phone number, I have been asked by more than one man if I have Facebook. I am not the only person who this has happened to.
I am much more leery of giving my full name to someone rather than my temporary UK phone number. It makes for an awkward conversation when I have to tactfully avoid giving out my full name to a stranger. Maybe Taken has just made me paranoid.
One of my roommates has been pursued by a student in our college. He is not British, but Romanian. I was standing right there when he asked her if she had Facebook, and the phenomenon struck me. And I’m almost ashamed to say that I had to stifle my laughter. It is just so odd! Said student found my roommate on Facebook (it seems like everyone here have MI6 spy skills) and added her, but she was hesitant to accept the request. She felt awkward every time she saw him, and eventually accepted the friend request.
Somehow, Facebook is the more intimate and direct form of communication than a telephone. We have not boiled down exactly why it is so, but it is a strange shift from the US. What is with these European guys and their fascination with Facebook?
If you have an answer, I’d like to know.
Until next time! Cheers!
HCXO,
Leslie