Happy Birthday on Facebook, or not

Most of us are a minority but often not in a racial, religious, or some other identifiable way.  I'm referring to things more subtle and less important.  It could be that you like anchovies or have a ham radio.  I am a Facebook user that does not have a date of birth on his profile.  I've grown indifferent to my own birthday and more so of others.  Every March approximately five of my nearly 300 Facebook friends wish me a Happy Birthday instead of the few dozen wishes I could receive.  I know this from the steady stream of birthday requests I see on my profile.  Most of my Facebook friends are not people in my social circle.   I'm always surprised by how many people want to wish me Happy Birthday and nothing else. 

Al McGuire once commented that people should buy their friends a beer while they're alive.  He felt showing up at the funeral was too little, too late.  It was a good quote that I don't have handy at this moment.  I feel the same way about Facebook birthday wishes.  Real friends deserve an occasional call or email, an unprompted 'how are you doing?" one or more of the other 364 days of the year.  If you do that and still want to wish your friend a happy birthday all the better.  To practice what I preach I'm going to reach out to some friends via email or phone call.  This might lead to something more memorable than the ephemeral "HBD!"

McGuire brothers & quotes from Al

This morning Dick McGuire died at the age of 84. He was a Hall of Fame basketball player for the New York Knicks and the older brother of fellow Hall of Famer Al McGuire; former player, Marquette coach, and TV analyst. Dick and Al both grew up in Rockaway Beach (part of Queens, NY),worked at the family saloon, and played basketball among other things. Their Irish father once said "the difference between Dick and Al is that Dick can play."

Since Dick was shy and quiet, I'll take this opportunity to sample a few of Al's 100s of famous quotes.

1) You've got to remember, it's a game. If we lose, a new star will appear in the east.
2) Winning is only important in war and surgery.
3) All love affairs end. Eventually the girl is gonna put curlers in her hair.
4) My personal style is not negotiable. That's how I fly. If you don't like my onion sandwiches, too bad. I can't change.

So much to think about. I think Al was not only entertaining but also a very wise man. He was never as good as Dick at basketball but was able to carve out his own niche. See Al dance at the end of this video with an ecstatic Syracuse team. There's also a current NFL quarterback in there if you look closely.