The WHO/Who

 Los Angeles, still, probably forever...

I am cautious about where I get my news. These days it is hard to get unbiased news on TV. The local stations are blatant in their quest for ratings, and what is with the women in cocktail dresses doing weather? Cable news skews away from the middle in both directions. And online news is dangerous, especially if people skim articles or only read the headlines. Danger! This way be dragons.

I subscribe to a few news sources online which I deem to be reliable. I read The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times more or less cover-to-cover once a week when I buy the print version for the food, lifestyle and literary sections. Honestly, that's why I buy them: NYT on Wednesday and WSJ on the weekend. But I do get a kick out of, once-in-awhile, saying to someone: As I was reading in the Wall Street Journal, recently...

Yesterday, I got hooked by a headline of a Wall Street Journal article online. The hook said something to the effect of How the WHO almost failed in their... Now, I love The Who. I've seen them in concert three times, and their Who's Next tour concert was one of the best concerts I have seen in my life (I saw The Beatles, I saw Pavoratti, I've seen a lot of concerts). So I clicked on. Of course you know what's coming. The WHO is the World Health Organization.

This really annoys me. And, as you might garner from recent, and frankly future posts, I am easily annoyed right now. In fact, I am working hard to keep my blog from being a stream of rants. But this one has been brewing for a long time. Why are we eliminating words from our vocabulary? Isn't this part of the dumbing-down of our culture or worse, pandering to the cool youth of our culture who have created all of this shorthand? I often have to look up the meaning of some of these FOMOs and other internet English abreves. When did our time become so important that we can't write out words? I accepted the switch from email to texting, though I am currently enjoying pandemic email correspondence with a few friends. Texting is expedient, and while not as easy as using a full-sized keyboard, you can still text meaningfully. I write out most words, though I think a few ASAPs and LOLs are acceptable. But then there is tagging. I have yet to ever tag anyone's texts. I find it incredibly dismissive. If you don't have the time or want to make the effort to respond with a word or two, then don't respond. I don't need the Batman cartoon caption from you. I am a believer in words and in language. I am an admirer of the power of words and communication. And, frankly, I don't like where this is going. I get that texting is an expediency, and a great method for a quick check-in. It can also be used for meaningful exchanges. No problem with that. But it can feel demoralizing to share something heartfelt and have someone respond with an exclamation point in a bubble. And, as a college graduate, I find it exasperating that I sometimes need to decypher what obscure government committee is being referred to by their initials. Trust me, I get POTUS and SCOTUS (though the latter sounds like it's related to male anatomy). But we are now winding way down this path. And, as I am redundantly writing in many posts here, we gotta lotta time on our hands right now. I would like to issue a plea that we use our words.

As for The Who and The WHO. I will pay more attention to caps in the future. Or, as the gorgeous Roger Daltry sang when I saw them in that stellar concert in 1971: I won't get fooled again... TYFRMB