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An Open "PM" to Polly

Hey Polly, it’s me- Melissa. Can I call you Polly? Because I feel like I know you. Do I know you? We’ve been in the same social media circles for many months now.

I see from your profile that you went to Cornell. I have a lot of friends that graduated from there. It’s an awesome school. What year did you graduate? I also see that you’re self-employed. I really respect entrepreneurs, particularly female entrepreneurs. What’s your business? Are you a photographer because your Facebook profile picture of Doubleday Field is fantastic.

I see that you don’t have any Facebook friends, Polly. I understand that. Are you lonely? It can be really lonely around here.

Listen Polly, this election got really nasty but at the end of the day are all neighbors right? Do you want to meet, do you want to talk about it? Haven’t seen you on social media since the election. I totally get where you’re coming from, Polly. It’s been hard for me, too. When you put yourself out there with really strong opinions people can get mad at you. When you connect your personal self so deeply to something you feel passionately about you're subject to ridicule and criticism. So I totally understand, Polly, if you’ve decided to go undercover for a while.

Sometimes, Polly, all we want is anonymity. We just want to hide behind the wall. Wouldn’t it be nice, Polly, if we could just say what we wanted without anybody knowing that it was coming from us? Wouldn’t it be cool, Polly, if we could just be angry, throw it all out there, without there being any personal repercussions? Ahh, sometimes I just want to create a fake profile and start getting nuts on people. Do you ever want to do that?

Anyway, Polly, if you’re out there I just want you to know that I’m still out there, too. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime at the coffee shop or the farmer's market or at the gym. You made an impression on me, Polly. I’ll never forget you. But I'll always wonder, whenever I walk around my community, are you there, right next to me, and we've never spoken face to face? I'll always wonder, who are you really, Polly?

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