Nothing To LOL About

My favorite comic strip at the moment is "Pearls Before Swine." The gullible pig. The rage-filled croc. The sensible and long suffering goat. All great characters. The best of the best for me, though, is rat. He's arrogant, narcissistic, and cruel. In good ways. He smokes too much and drinks a lot. He's very smart, and he knows it.
In a recent segment of the comic, rat decides that he is going to seriously hurt those who end e-mails and posts with "lol." Did I mention that he's violent as well? In a good way.
In this instance, in a very good way.
Rat hates "lol." And so do I.
Let me add that I dislike all forms of computer shorthand. It's sheer laziness, a by product of the "quick in, quick out" mindset of our current society. Don't take those few extra seconds to actually write the words out, oh no. Heaven forbid that while we're typing out complete sentences, we'll miss being first to download the latest app. Or install that brand new software.
Communication between human beings has been reduced to a continuous stream of unsubtle sound bytes, designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Not so many years ago, if I found something to be funny, I would simply say so. I assumed that whomever I was speaking to was intelligent enough to understand me the first time. There was no need to reinforce my feelings by, essentially, NARRATING them.
And you know what? We are all intelligent. Everybody I know, whether friend, foe, or Facebook, is of above average intelligence and perfectly capable of understanding that if I look at a picture of their cat wearing a tuxedo and it gives me the urge to respond, a simple "I like that" or "Cool!" will suffice. It will get my message across.
I see no reason and feel no need to add "lol." Because you know what? Maybe I'm NOT laughing out loud. Maybe I'm merely chuckling. Or maybe I am laughing very hard but trying to stifle it because I'm in a coffee shop. Or maybe I simply don't feel the desire to insult you by reducing my feelings to three letters. Maybe I will tell you that I'm laughing. But if that's the case,I will have the courtesy to take the extra few moments to tell you so. In real words. Without shorthand.
Do you even care that I'm laughing out loud? Is it even true? Maybe I'm just saying that I am. And therein lies another problem with computer shorthand. We don't know for sure what the truth is; we're merely adding letters. But if I see something which reads "this made my day. Thank you" (which, to be fair, I have), than I know that whatever I've chosen to share actually had an impact. It meant something beyond the countless updates and notes and posts we receive daily. It means that the receiver of my message respects me enough to use real words to express them self.
We don't speak to each other in person in this abbreviated manner. We'd be offended if somebody did. We say "nice to meet you" when introduced to a stranger. Nobody would think of saying "NTMY." So why is this acceptable on-line practise?
I do not and will not use computer shorthand. If I enjoy something, I will tell you. If I'm expressing my opinion, I will not write "imho." Because I'm not a ho. I love the English language. Words mean a lot to me. So I will not lessen their impact by cutting them short.
I have to side with the rat on this one.