I’ve decided that the smiley has, on the whole, gotten a bad rap.  I’m asking you to take action, and join me in speaking up for the smiley.  [But hold off on the smiley variations, and all those other emoticons, until we can build some consensus there.]

Anyhow, don’t let people put smiley down in your presence.  And don’t be afraid to add smiley to all of those work e-mails, legal contracts, poems, snippets of source code, ransom notes, doctoral theses (rhymes with faeces), and, of course, status updates you churn out every day.  When people question you – and oh, they WILL be so bold as to question you – just ask them how they think the introduction of the question mark has turned out (on the whole) for the English language.  THAT ought to put them right back in their place…

Remember our motto:  *IF* the smiley had been invented before Shakespeare’s time, he’d have been ALL over that, and you KNOW it.

If you cannot learn to love the smiley, let me know, and I’ll try to bring you around via repeated sessions of exposure therapy.  Failing that, I’ll have to de-friend you – sorry, but it’s my new litmus test.  :)

Have a Smiley Day!  Or Else!!