Chris is the typical computer geek, he’s the type of guy who spends more time on his computer than asleep. He loves technology so much that he even decided to take up computer science in college. One of his big dreams is to work for Microsoft some day after graduating and obtaining his degree, but that’s still far away. His life is still a lot more relaxed, and when he’s not studying, he hangs out with friends, surfs the internet and is active in a number of online forums and chat rooms designed for computer science students all over the world.
These forums are places where students who are doing the same course or who simply share an interest for computers can hang out virtually. Chris likes the fact he can find like-minded people in such forums who won’t find him geeky, who he can talk about his course with without having to stop and explain every two minutes and who don’t interrupt him with questions that seem quite stupid to him.

Chris had no trouble quickly finding a few friends online. They’re all college students, they all have the same short term goals and the same interests – passing their exams, getting good grades, still leaving room for free time - so it is not surprising that they become good friends, even if technically they are still strangers. Considering the fact some people even fall in love over the internet through online date services, this shouldn’t seem too weird. Since meeting his new virtual friends, Chris considers the internet as even more useful in his life.

Online friendships

Chris’ group of online friends became really close despite cultural differences and the distance separating them. The Computer Science course was sufficient to keep them together and help each other on the way towards getting their diploma. They can help each other out with study programs as well as learning techniques and just general advice to succeed in college and share their own experiences. The little group can also discuss projects together and help each other out with ideas, they can go through difficult lessons and see if some understand them better than they do, and they can help each other with problems in their private lives as well. Chris became particularly close with Carrie, a girl studying in the UK who’s the same age, likes the same books and the same music and has the same hobbies. Even though there never was anything romantic going on, a close online friendship developed between Chris and Carrie and they love talking to each other. 

Visiting friends

Chris and Carrie emailed, instant messaged, and when they had time, even called each other through the internet. They never ran out of things to talk since they had so much in common there was always something to say. When Carrie announced she was coming to the US for a vacation at her relatives’ place just a state away from him, Chris was very happy and looked forward to her stay very much. Carrie promised to visit him since it wouldn’t be far and Chris got very excited. They ended up meeting each other and Chris even surprised her with a nice bouquet of very pretty flowers to say hello.

Obviously, a little awkwardness was inevitable – they had just met after all – but the two quickly warmed up to each other even in person and they both felt like they’d known each other for ages, even though they actually just met. They went out to eat, to the movies, or just hung out and talked, and Chris even got to know Carrie’s relatives. They were both very happy in the knowledge that this would be a friendship they would cherish for a very long time.

A solid friendship

When Chris returned home after seeing Carrie, she flew back home a few days later. Chris was looking for a way to say thank you for the great time he’d had with Carrie. He thought of how much she had liked his flowers, but at first he thought giving her flowers wasn’t possible because of the great distance. However, as a computer geek, he ran a quick online search and was glad to find UK online florists that could help him out. He chose the services of Serenata Flowers, a well established florist in the UK that has a reputation for on time quality service. The bouquet he chose was quite similar to the one he’d given her in the summer, so he was sure she would like it. Chris had the flowers delivered right to Carrie’s place in the UK. When she received the flowers, she immediately called him up and she sounded so happy that Chris vowed to send her flowers on every special occasion just to show her how much he valued her.