In an unexpected story developing out of San Diego, CA, dad just used an exclamation mark in a text like it was no big deal.
The message in question read, “Making tacos tonight!” and was accompanied by a photo of some corn tortillas and various taco fillings on the counter.
“When I got the text, which was completely out of nowhere, to begin with, I was like, ‘whoa,’” you say. “He’s never shown this much emotion before. This is not typical behavior from him.”
The unprecedented punctuation is sending shockwaves through the community, as your dad’s texts to you generally range from sending an article along with the added commentary, “Interesting.” Or sending you a picture of the TV screen when he’s watching Maddow, which, you don’t really understand why he does that, but it’s too late to ask now.
“If my dad had even sent me the exact same text minus the exclamation mark, I would have felt fine just ‘love’ reacting it and moving on,” you say. “But it really threw me. What is going on with him?”
Seeking a second opinion, you sent a screenshot of the text in question to your sister who responded, “damn, he’s going off,” but could not be reached for further comment.
“It’s just sort of destabilizing,” you say. “Is he on drugs? Was he diagnosed with a terminal illness and decided he’s going to live the rest of his life with passionate abandon? The whole thing is very weird.”
When you finally caved and checked in with your mom to ensure dad wasn’t dying, you were left with more questions than answers.
“Excited about dinner I guess,” mom replied, along with a winking-while-sticking-out-its-tongue emoji.
“Okay that wasn’t helpful,” you say. “But at least with that emoji I know one of my parents is still texting like themselves.”
