I've been out of high school for thirty years. When we were in school there was talk about personal computers, but we did not have any in our high school so I did not get introduced to using one until I went to college. As with most adults that are introduced to new technology I was intimidated by the computer.

It took me several years before I used one to its full capability at work and it has only been recently that we have one in our home. Today I find that I rely on the computer to help me with many tasks.

I mentioned that I have been out of high school for thirty years. This means that the dreaded class reunion is being planned. I must have drank too much at the twenty year reunion because I volunteered to help plan this one. I have not stayed in touch with very many classmates.

I was mentioning this to a friend and she told me to use the search for people programs on the computer. She said that she had done this when she was trying to find her old college room mate. She explained that you can search for people through free programs.

It is easiest if you have some basic information about the person you are looking for. The information can be as general as the state the person lives in or as specific as their telephone number or address. Most of the search for people programs on the internet are free, such as the white pages. If you want detailed information such as criminal history or financial information you need to pay a fee.

I started using a search for people program looking for classmates. As I began finding addresses and telephone numbers it occurred to me that it is not very easy to disappear in this world any more. It used to be that if you were not in a local phone book, people would have to rely on relatives or friends to get your new address and telephone number.

Now if you use a telephone carrier the information is readily available. Even if you have an unlisted number, through the search for people programs you can narrow down which area code the person lives in. I found that I was tempted to look at the criminal records that  were available.

If you have the money and want to spend it on digging up dirt on others you could certainly do this through the search for people programs. The information that is available is limited to public records, but it no longer means that you need to go to the courthouse and request information from the clerk of courts.

I resisted paying for this information on classmates. I did find out that there is another site where you can find out if someone is in jail or prison and what their crime and sentence is. I found one of my classmates in this site; I guess he will miss the reunion.