Back in my day...

I'm 38. And I'm truly getting old. it is official-I'm now of the older generation.

I know this because yesterday I nearly assaulted two kids on the train, having to resist the urge to knock their two heads together.

Because they were stupid.

For more then thirty minutes I listened to to boys somewhere between 18 and 20, have a series of conversations, the usual banter, nothing awe- inspiring.

The conversation itself was not the issue.

My issue arose from the fact that whenever one dude said anything the other (and this worked in both directions) amusing, the other would SAY "lol". This happened many times over. I lost count in my rage.

You see, my issue stems from the fact that we, as primates, have developed a means of expressing mirth. it's called "laughter". (Or, in the milder cases, a "smile").

I've known the age thing was coming on for about a year now. My ex husbands girlfriend (whom I absolutely adore, by the way) is also much much younger(that's the way it goes, right?), and her vocabulary also makes me shudder, though I have never felt the urge to cause her harm in an effort to teach her proper diction! She will shorten words such as "totally" into "totes". I find such alterations jarring as they interrupt the flow of conversation for me, but I can get over it. I just keep telling myself that this is an evolution of the language and try not to think of it as devolution.

But to introduce as a word "lol" without any outward flicker of expression to accompany it?

is that where we are headed as a race? To the re-expression of body language. Mechanical beings without expression.

Ah well, without the presence of laugh lines, perhaps the next generation will retain their youth into their old age.

And I'm sure they will then find something equally as irritating about the youth of their day as well.

Maybe kids then will want to do something really perverse, like socialize in meatspace.