Weird

Some time in February I sent my mother a friend request on Facebook.  She ignored it for about six months, not because (I assume) she does not want my friendship, but because historically she has been a bit of a technophobe.  She didn't used to log onto Facebook very often, and when she did, she would become confused as to whether she was typing in the Google window or the Facebook window.  It was cute.  Sometimes her search terms turned up as Facebook statuses or comments.  "Lovely to see you yesterday!" someone would remark.  "Facebook", she would reply.  "How about we meet for coffee next Tuesday?"  "Google maps", she would respond.

But this weekend something happened, and I don't know what it was.  Suddenly my mother accepted my friend request, went through all my pictures and made non-Google comments, and began using the abbreviation "u" to mean "you".  My mother is a retired English teacher. This bastardization of language is highly out of character.  In the 80s I used to fear my mother would be arrested for vandalizing an "LY" on those stupid "Drive Decent" bumper stickers XL Radio handed out.  She would frequently whip out a red pen from her purse and make corrections on menus in restaurants.  The very idea of using "u" to mean "you" would have, at one time, set off a series of obsessive compulsive tics.

I don't really know who my mother is anymore, and now that she is using language in this slick new way, what will we have in common?




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