BAKERSFIELD, CA — Local Man Brad Stephens contributed to his family's ongoing group text Monday by sending a thumbs-up emoji.
"Whew. Wow. I'd better say something so they know I'm paying attention," Stephens thought. "Here we go, a thumbs-up emoji, the perfect thing to show I totally care about…what was it…the photos of Mom's garden she sent out."
Stephens spent the better part of Monday not reading any of the dozens of texts from the family group thread. At one point he realized he'd better say something or risk someone asking "Brad, are you ok?". "That's the worst because I can't just ignore it. Last year Dad sent the police to check on me after I failed to comment on a thread about my niece's fourth birthday party. I just honestly had nothing to add. Now I know better. Thumbs-up all the way."
"I'm not quite sure what the thumbs-up means," Stephens's mom Carol commented. "I guess it means ‘I agree', ‘I've seen this', ‘That's cool', ‘I'm on my way', ‘I love you'; whatever the context is, I guess."
As of publishing time, Stephens had commented on a thread about his sister's new baby with a laughing-face emoji before realizing he might actually have to type real words for this one.
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