My kids and I were discussing this yesterday. You see it and hear it everywhere. Facebook, Twitter, texts, email, message boards. Yolo.
So I have to ask. Why do we reduce something truly worth notice to a trite, annoying little acronym. “Yolo.” Really? Then, if that’s not enough, we just slap it on every thing we do as if an excuse for spending money in the grocery store vending machine at our age. After all, “Yolo.” Oh, and that gives it the dubious honor of also being over-used. Yippie doodle.
I used a gas station restroom out of desperation. Yolo. (well bully for you.)
I quit that job I hated and never wanted in the first place and accepted a better paying job that I’ve always wanted. Yolo. (because that took guts!)
I went for a walk. I bought my favorite ice cream. I sneezed. YOLO!
It’s like when people use LOL as punctuation. Haven’t you ever read a Facebook status or text that said, “I just broke my toe LOL I need a ride to the doctor LOL Oh look, there’s a bone sticking out the top LOL” The meaning is lost. Gone. Kaput.
I’d say the average person probably only manages a dozen or so true “yolo” events in their life–those things that are so uniquely out of their comfort zone or deeply desired that you have to make an effort to make them a part of your life. You know, climbing Mount Everest, leaving a lucrative career to pursue your passion, or at least taking that vacation that you always find an excuse to postpone.
I just think it’d be nice to make those special things… oh, I don’t know… special? It’s like that line from the Incredibles, “It’s psychotic! They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity.”
You know, this fits a lot of today’s “speak.” I think it started a hundred years ago with saying “love” for things like “I love ice cream” instead of “I enjoy ice cream.” However, that exaggeration has morphed into an entire array of exaggerated terms.
LOL- Really? Did you? It makes sense to say so. But considering how often I see people write, “I actually LOL’d,” my guess is that we don’t. I’m just as guilty as the next gal, but I have been trying to train myself to type “snicker” or “snort.” Those are more like the actual things I do when I’m amused at something I read.
I can’t wait- Really? You can’t wait for the mail? You’re just DYING to get that catalog?
Dying- that’s another one. Really? You’re going to collapse on the ground in a soulless shell of a body if that catalog that you couldn’t wait for didn’t arrive on time?
and of course,
Yolo– Used the way it is now, it seems like maybe we should make it fit every single thing we ever do. After all, you only live once– better pick up that paper off the ground while you can!
