"Unfriend" and The BFF Break-up

When things go to crap. (Paris...otherwise, beautiful!)

Did you know "unfriend" was the Word of the Year in 2009? You know why that kind of sucked?

Have you ever broken up with a friend? If not, it's a doozy. Whoo-boy. A fun little journey I got to experience for myself in the rather unfortunate year that was 2009.

I truly believe I could get married and divorced without experiencing the level of pain breaking up with my best friend caused. Not to mention, discovering a whole new virtual way to get punched right in face: being "unfriended" on Facebook. I don't even like Facebook, and I hardly ever used it for communicating with the Ex. But getting friend-dumped by social media's darling was a definite low, more so because of the sheer unexpected force that punch packs.

Besides the emotional loss, some other unexpected bummers of being unfriended:

1. That moment when something great/horrific happens and you realize you don't know who to tell.
2. Realizing you are no longer capable of deciding if your butt looks big in those jeans.
3. Losing half your wardrobe due to a sudden loss of shared custody privileges.
4. Having someone to obsess over the stuff you're to embarrassed to tell anyone else you've even heard of.
5. Trying to hang pictures without that trusted person standing 10 feet back to tell you if it's crooked.

I'm sure naming "unfriend" Word of the Year seemed like a good way to get some PR buzz. I personally remember it as the reason I downed an entire pint of Chunky Monkey in one sitting. Still, for 2009, I guess I can agree, "unfriend" was a fairly important word.