If you want to make yourself look really old, you should slip into the role of a young professional: dash into the Porsche in a casual playboy pose, peel yourself out of the deep seat with stiff hips, and as a mid-fifties sprinkle a “cool” into every second sentence or flood your colleagues with all kinds of emojis.
Ursula Kals
Editor in business, responsible for "Youth Writes".
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That's exactly what my middle-aged colleague K., who discovered the colorful world of emojis two decades late, has been doing recently.
At first she was hesitant to use a conventional smiley face, so you can't go wrong with that.
Corners of the mouth up or down, wave-wave - everyone understands that.
She then persistently worked her way deeper into the huge selection of emoticons.
There has been no holding back since younger employees joined the team and carelessly toss little hearts, often flaming ones, or kiss mouths.
They are trained by the cute pictograms of the online communities in which they hang out.
Mrs. K's learning curve is steep.
She becomes bolder, tests 3-D and combines small picture stories.
As an animal lover, she has discovered white rabbits, activated black cats and psychedelic unicorns.
She doesn't give a damn what the dream interpreter in the team, who is well versed in kitchen psychology, wants to attach to her in terms of "unlived eroticism".
Clapping hands for the boss, red roses for your favorite colleague, me-too fades out.
I'm happy, I'm annoyed, I'm surprised - it's a practical way of expressing your feelings in the online world without facial expressions.
Sometimes, when she misplaces her screen glasses, she messes with the emojis.
So be it.
Ms. K. says: “That saves time.
If someone gets angry because I sent them a monkey, I pick up the phone.
Rarely happens.
Dot, dot, comma, dash, thumbs up.”