About-face

You could almost have called Friday night The Great Vanech Face-off.

Our dinner companions, meeting Basil for the first time, all remarked that he looked the same in person as he does on Facebook.

I don’t know if they meant this Facebook picture:

Basil, from before we met.

or this one:

Trying out some weird head-massage gadget in Brookstone.

or this:

The two of us, from a family wedding in 2009.

maybe this?

Christmas 2010.

Even this one, perhaps?

One of my favorites (and I curse that mirror line every time I look at it). No matter. It’s Basil and Catherine, 14 years ago.

Anyway, was a humorous remark, repeated a couple of times — and all by people who looked just as they do on my computer screen. Well, except maybe Sandra, whose avatar remains the default outline icon.

Following the introductions, there was an extra beat of silence. After all, without “like” or “share” buttons on the table, we were forced to remember how to socialize in real life. I’m pleased to note that we managed to do so.

In fact, I remembered enough social finer points that I was able to approach a familiar face I’d not seen in 11 years. Although I remembered her, she did not know who I was at first. Once we reconnected she quickly exclaimed: “You look so different!”

I did a quick inventory: Surely my hair isn’t THAT gray. Have the wrinkles reshaped my face? Is the perpetual exhaustion clouding my eyes? Did the age-defying lift in my Vanity Fair quit working?!

I settled for this socially acceptable rejoinder: “Thanks,” quickly adding, “I think.”

She changed the subject.

And so I’m still peering closely at myself in the mirror, wondering if “different” is good or bad. …

Perhaps I need to consult Facebook.