Social media is supposed to get celebrities in trouble, not someone like me! – SCN Encourager

I might have to chuck the whole lifelong learning thing.

It’s way too risky.

There are too many pitfalls I can’t anticipate.

I thought I could.

But I couldn’t.

Last month I was invited by a young entrepreneur to a his local meet-up group.

He calls it “Drinks & Digital.”

I was flattered.

(Plus, for first-timers the first drink is on the house, so that was enough of an incentive for me.)

Besides, to have the opportunity to rub elbows with a small band of creatives, videographers, web developers, and social media managers (all under the age of 30) would be cool.

Unfortunately, the first meet-up invitation I received was on a night Cindy had committed us to have dinner with her parents.

No problem.

I’m a quick-thinking school communicator and a seasoned husband, so I told Cindy that I’d have to work late and wouldn’t be home until after 6:30 pm.

See? No problem at all.

So, off to the meet-up I went, taking along a very uncool spiral notebook and pen.

But what the heck, I was eager to learn.

Of course, I had totally forgotten how millennials also love to balance their work and lifestyles with “causes.”

And that’s what I probably was  – their lost cause!

But I didn’t care. I had a blast and learned a ton.

And my learning didn’t stop even after we all departed from the downtown microbrew.

You see, during the 12 minutes it took me to drive home, one of the attendees posted six photos of the meet-up on Facebook.

This allowed Cindy – thanks to one of my daughters who immediately saw the post – to greet me at the door with a pleasant “So… How was your Drinks & Digital?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” I stammered.

“Well, take a look,” she said, handing me our laptop, “You’re tagged right here in photo three.”

“I am?” 

“Yeah, and you can’t deny that that’s you with the big name bubble above your head, can you?”

(Oh, brother! What a pickle!)

Luckily, my young friend only hosts his Drinks & Digital meet-up once a month.

This would give me ample time to figure out how I could avoid falling into this trap again.

At last night’s meet-up I came prepared.

All thanks to Halloween and my “Go Green” leanings.

Sure, the same trouble-making photographer was at it again.

He took a bunch of photos.

But none with me in them got posted on Facebook.

I think he thought I’d embarrass the meet-up group or something.

Regardless, I still played it safe.

When I left the microbrew, I stopped by the Holland Peanut Store to pick up a small box of candy for Cindy.

Because of social media tripping me up weeks ago, I wasn’t going to take any chances when I walked through the door this time.

It’s what any “once burned” quick-thinking school communicator and seasoned husband would do.

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