Today I was texting with my 19 year old. I asked a question, they responded and I followed up with a smiley emoji. This was the conversation after:

I have officially been ousted as getting old and not understanding of the youth of today. Since when would a happy face be passive aggressive? I’m confused by how an image that was always related to having a sunny disposition or the quote “Have a nice day!” has turned into passive aggressive/ sarcasm. I also joked after about the “mind blown” emoji.

Honestly, even with the context of our text messages- you could tell it wasn’t meant as more than a smile for doing a good job. But there we were, both of us unaware of what was being portrayed. At least Darwin had the courage to tell me what she saw the icon as representing. Now I know for next time when messaging the “younger crowd”.

To end it, I threw in a “Watchman” reference to really show my age. It kind of resonates with the conversation and how the smiley face has been killed off. At least I learned something new today.