Presence

In a quest to track down people from high school, I've been unable to locate several. This is normal -- in 1980. Now we have the Internet, and avoiding such a thing is next to impossible, or so I thought.

Many, many people I know are simply...not there.

I'm very skeptical of people who have no Internet presence whatsoever. Like if you Google them, nothing comes up. To the Internet, they don't exist. You can't even find public record of them online. No Myspace account, no Facebook, no name in print anywhere, no Internet alter-ego -- how is this possible in 2007? This is the modern equivalent of not appearing in the phone book.

But why? Why hide? Why resist the onslaught of technology. Tons of reasons, I reckon.

A choice, to be sure -- avoiding Internet involvement has to be, unless one lives beyond the digital divide. Some probably prefer not to be found, as high school wasn't exactly everyone's most stellar moment (if high school was your life's peak, you are a sad excuse for a a human being).

Perhaps some chose to be mountain men?

This troubles me. I know these people existed. I just can't find them now.