Member-only story
Maybe Don’t Google Your New Friend
A case for letting relationships reveal themselves without the help of information we’ve already discovered online
I recently got a request to meet with a guy in my town who wants to be a writer. Combine having not made a lot of in-person friends over the past 18 months and most people in Spain thinking I’m a fortune teller because I write on something called “Medium,” I jumped at the opportunity.
Walking home after our conversation, however, I questioned why the guy wanted to speak with me. Not every time, but quite a bit, he would cut me off when I began to explain something or attempt to tell a story. “I just read your status update on LinkedIn. Your friend has an amazing story!” or “I saw that in an article of yours. It’s a cool idea!”
I was flattered the first time it happened as the guy had clearly done his homework. But after the third time, the fact that he thought he knew where I was headed whenever I opened my mouth completely deflated the conversation.
The whole interaction reminded me of something that author kelly corrigan had said to me on her podcast a few months ago. I was telling her a story about how my wife and I met. It was in 2010, which may not sound like a long time ago, but the way we communicated and learned…
