So, have you guys checked out The Hub yet? No, unfortunately, I'm not talking about the long gone (RIP, Hub) cafe in downtown Fullerton with the Vespa hanging upside down from the ceiling and Timber playing in the courtyard. I'm talking about Biola's new online alumni network. I saw the ad for it in the latest Connections, and I thought, Hey! What a good idea! I thought I'd go, sign up, and look up a few old friends. So I went, but no one I looked for was there yet. So I spent a while looking around the site, and after a few minutes I got a really weird feeling. Took me a second to figure out what it was, and I finally realized: I felt trapped. The Hub is bubbs revisited. A little more grown up, a little more up to date, but the same idea. And the same people. And the same attitude. And the same bubble. I felt like I was standing in a too-small room. Maybe it's because when I graduated I traded bubbs for the internet, soapboxes for blogs. And the world just seems bigger now. Not that bubbs and the hub are bad ideas. I think they're really great at what they're intended for. The Hub will be great for tracking down people we've lost touch with. But it's kind of like when I go to Biola to meet my mom for lunch. The people walking around are all the same people with different names, and I don't really know any of them anymore. You can't go back.
3 comments:
This is uncanny. I signed up for (the new) The Hub yesterday. Creeeeepy.
I have such good memories of (the old) The Hub, even though I think I only went there once. But it was with you, and Timber was indeed playing in the courtyard. (Or Avenue B. Or Mr. Morning. Or whatever name Tim, Brad, Ryan, and Glenn were playing under that night.)
Yep, I remember that night. I think we went specifically BECAUSE they were playing. Fun, wasn't it? I think I saw Vinegar Joe there at least once, and had a few of those big important college conversations there ("where do you think our relationship is going?"). But I don't miss it like I miss Beans, where they practically made me pay rent. More on that later, maybe....
Post a Comment