diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index f22290e18..647fe3172 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -190,12 +190,13 @@ class User
   end
   
   def friend_by_id( id )
-    friends.detect{|x| x.id == id || x.id == BSON::ObjectID(id) }
+    friends.detect{|x| x.id == ensure_bson id }
   end
 
   def group_by_id( id )
-    groups.detect{|x| x.id == id  || x.id == BSON::ObjectID(id) }
+    groups.detect{|x| x.id == ensure_bson id }
   end
+
   protected
   
   def assign_key
@@ -210,4 +211,11 @@ class User
     OpenSSL::PKey::RSA::generate 1024 
   end
 
+  def ensure_bson id 
+    if id.class == String
+      BSON::ObjectID(id)
+    else
+      id
+    end
+  end
 end
diff --git a/db/seeds/tom.rb b/db/seeds/tom.rb
index f171eb0f9..6f3e84582 100644
--- a/db/seeds/tom.rb
+++ b/db/seeds/tom.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,3 @@
-#This file should contain all the record creation needed to seed the database with its default values.
-# The data can then be loaded with the rake db:seed (or created alongside the db with db:setup).
-#
-# Examples:
-#
-#   cities = City.create([{ :name => 'Chicago' }, { :name => 'Copenhagen' }])
-#   Mayor.create(:name => 'Daley', :city => citie
-
 require 'config/environment'
 
 # Create seed user