Technology moves fast. Every other day there’s a new app or device one has to learn to communicate in a modern world. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with it all.
Adult children are taking to social media to share the funny, foreboding texts their parents sent them. These cryptic messages make it seem like there is an emergency but all is well. Things just got lost in translation between generations. TikToker Allie O’Brien shared some of the best ones.
Allie made sure to curate a video with some laugh-out-loud parent texts.
One person shared: “My mom told me, ‘Grandpa’s plane went down.’ It landed. The plane landed.” Thank goodness grandpa was OK.
Here’s another gem: “My mom once texted me, ‘Don’t come home after school. I love you.’ She was just mopping the floors.” In mom's defense, a clean house is important.
This topic was super relatable so people shared their experiences in the comments.
“My mom will sometimes text and just say, ‘We need to talk’ with no punctuation, so I have to do some high-level calculations to see if I, a 30 year old man, am in trouble,” shared one TikTok user.
More from LittleThings: I Tried Sending Texts As Old-Fashioned Handwritten Letters And This Is How People Reacted
Allie’s video caught the attention of Today. She spoke with the outlet about this universal experience. “In communicating with my parents, the punctuation and phraseology are different and there are ellipses everywhere,” she explained. “It can be startling.” It’s not surprising that people from different generations communicate differently.
“The problem feels specific to text messaging because a phrasing mishap can change everything,” she went on to say. “Whereas in person, you can hear a person’s tone, see visuals or clarify what the other means.” When in doubt, pick up the phone and talk to your parents, she advised.
