I Know A Dude Who Knows A Dude...

Over the past three years, I have really noticed an uptick in the strong sense of association among people within six degrees. You have your direct connections, and then the dude who knows a dude that knows you, and so forth; even LinkedIn – which I do not utilize enough – has a hierarchy consisting of 1st-degree, 2nd-degree, and 3rd-degree relationships. This extends users’ reach beyond the narrower direct contacts that we normally associate with and builds commonalities with shared interests.

But seriously, this is supposed to be a humorous blog entry.

In case you didn’t know, six degrees of separation is the theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away, by way of introduction, from any person in the world, so that a chain of “a friend of a friend” statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. (Thanks, Frigyes Karinthy!) The 1993 cult film Six Degrees of Separation starring Kevin Bacon and Will Smith explores this theme a lot deeper than I expect to, yet it portrays Stockard Channing as a woman who desires a connection by any means necessary, even with a confused young con artist, as Smith plays.

There is so much you don’t know. You are so smart and so stupid. – Ouisa Kittredge

Without having to physically write a chain letter, we all can make the claim. Got a friend needing a job? Hook him or her up with a supervisor or an “in” such as a human resources coordinator or a respected employee. I run into this all the time. My first day Rineco, I encountered a former Razorbacks football player that I had partied with in college who remembered me because he and a roommate pledged the same fraternity the same semester, only at different chapters (Chrys was a #3, while Jack was a #4. Shunn was the #3 on that pledge line at my school). Imagine the faces of senior management when they saw two brothers giving dap, handshakes, and otherwise chopping-it-up from an era bygone! On the flipside, my boss and a close childhood friend roomed together at the hometown university. I guess, in a sense, I’m good to come through with people from 72 of Arkansas’ 75 counties; I would not feel exactly comfortable in Polk or Sharp counties – and I haven’t set foot in Columbia County since 2002. That one can stay that way, for all I care.

I know a dude who knows a dude that plays a dude disguised as a dude. Are you that dude?

Oops, I digressed. Beyond social media, it is amazing that we are all connected by six degrees of separation. When we utilize those links, we are enthralled not by what we have in common, but who you know – feelings not included.

Love me or hate me, I know a dude!