"Thanks for the help!"
- Hackneyed
- Did you really need help?
- Strangers say this to each other
"Thanks for the help! ❤"
- Brilliant
- You could not have done this without me
- Are we best friends, now?!
As an older Millenial I remember a time without texting but it was never truly absent. I had a pager in the 8th grade that Mami said was only for emergencies. And paging others meant calling a switch board and reading your message.
"What is the message?"
And it was always something so bland but I wondered about the people who wanted to elaborate out essays. Or who wanted to say something beyond the Hallmark card aesthetics. "I love you" must have always been awkward. Did anyone ever page something tawdry? Did anyone ever page "I DONT love you"? Beacuse I imagined that all required Greek epic levels of bravery.
And we had original emojis where heart was a slapdash monster of slashes . Guys like this =).
However that carries no weight for me. It's the desperate need for validation or the grinding compeltionist in me but that tiny nod (in ink or pen) makes me want snap into an all pro mode. It does and fires a flurry of dopamine that is outside my daily routine. My kids who I push away because I am tired and who then say they dont want me when I find the time. My wife who shares in my exhaustion of 15 years trying on our terms. The back burner projects at work and hobbies I could be better at if only I gave one more iota of a shit about them.
I'm writing this a bit dizzy tired. A sort of auto writing as I realize I should brush my teeth. I'm a sucker for curls. I've said that once and in layers of falling sleep I see them. Wispy and color of box elder wood. Every message is punctuated by a heart reminding me of first dates. Of a college crush with red hair fanned by dinosaur kale leaves. "You're funny," someone once told me. And I felt seen yet also isolated and hollow.
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