Facebook, Loose Women and Havering Humanists

Somebody invited me to join Facebook today. I'd been putting it off but, ever eager to please, filled in the form that popped up from the link. I don't quite understand how, but all these names appeared as facebookers I know. I rashly clicked a box, and suspect I have now invited everyone I have ever corresponded with to be my friend...I mean, people like my bank manager and someone I once ordered a washing machine spare part from. On the other hand, there were lots of friendly and familiar faces, so that's okay. (I signed up for My Space ages ago to discover new bands, and Tom's been my only friend there ever since. It's embarrassing).

One of the Facebook profile questions was about religion. I thought I'd look up 'Humanist', because that's what I suspect I am, even though I was baptised twice, which apparently breaks all the rules but should make me twice as holy. There is a jolly useful list of humanist groups - Oxford Humanists, Croydon Humanists, etc. Then there is 'Humanists in Havering'. I can see why they put it that way round. Bit like the 'Loose Women's Institute' near here, which apparently isn't nearly as promising as it sounds. In Essex, the Ugley Women's Institute has similarly changed its name to the 'The Women's Institute of Ugley.'

At least we are becoming a tad more sophisticated. When the telephone book first appeared, it was thought wildly funny to look up people with surnames like 'Smelley', then ring them up just to say, " Hello. Are you smelly?"