Not sure if you saw it this week, but the Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year was announced and, of course, in these crazy times, it was not a word at all.
Yes, in the life and times of all-inclusive confusion, the "word" of the year was actually an emoji. For those of you who are wondering, an emoji is the little image put on social media, email and elsewhere to represent the mood or feelings of the message or messenger.
Be it sarcasm or happiness or sadness or anger, there's an icon of a small face depicting the feeling, and that's an emoji.
This year, the "word" of the year was the emoji known as the "Face with tears of joy." So, technically, the "word" of the year was an image that is actually five words.
Crazy, right?
And if we are going to get this far off the rails, is anyone not concerned with the apparent feelings of the other emojis? I mean, how can "Rolling on the floor laughing" emojis enjoy themselves knowing that "Face with tears of joy" is obviously superior?
Is there an emoji counselor available to consult on this matter?
Oh, the humanity! And we certainly need to think of the emoji children.
Jay GreesonMore college craziness
Speaking of politically correct overreaction, apparently Princeton University - one of the nation's finest institutions - is on the verge of wiping former President Woodrow Wilson's name from buildings at the school.
Wilson, who was the Princeton president before becoming the nation's leader, was a member of the Progressive party in the early 1900s, and part of that party's stance was racial segregation.
Gang, if we are going to selectively review the historical importance of individuals based on their stances then compared to the overly politically correct stances of today's "My kid's a star student somewhere" bumper-sticker crowd, we have a whole lot of erasing to do.
Heck, forget the random college building or bust at some state Capitol. We have currency to reprint and all-time legends to clear from record books.
I mean, George Washington owned slaves; so did Thomas Jefferson.
Never mind the fact that Babe Ruth was the greatest baseball player of the 20th century; he played in a segregated league.
Enough. Simply enough.
There's real racism in the world, in our country and even around our corners. That should be confronted and fought at every turn.
But to stage a 32-hour sit-in like the students did at Princeton for a meaningless historical view of a former president devalues the real fight against real-world racism.
Many congratulations
The Signal Mountain High School film students who won a national competition sponsored by State Farm on the dangers of driving without two hands on the wheel and two eyes on the road finished in the top 22.
The video about a one-eyed, one-handed pirate - and goodness forbid that some college protesters may believe they are slighting the handicapped - was brilliant. You can watch it online at timesfreepress.com.
The efforts by Matt Doebler and his students deserve praise, and also earned the school a cool $100,000.
Here's a thought, though: Share part of that to help the budgets of each high school across the county. Yes, Signal earned it, but sharing the prize would match those kids' genius with a equal dose of generosity.
We rule online
In case you were wondering, the voting in the movie contest the Signal Mountain High School kids placed in happened online.
That means that, yet again, an online contest came and we kicked it in the keyboard.
Let the record show in the online voting world, the greater Chattanooga area is a combination of Tiger Woods, Mike Tyson and Babe Ruth.
(But don't tell the Princeton kids, they may not like the Babe Ruth comparisons.)
Saturday stars
With Thanksgiving approaching, let's tip our visor to McCallie School students who have partnered with the Salvation Army to help provide a Thanksgiving meal to many who would not have one otherwise.
This brings me to something we want to try in the coming week, and maybe you'd like to play along.
On Thanksgiving next week, I will use this space for some of the things for which I am thankful. I also will open it up for you to share some of the things for which you give thanks.
Granted, we won't be able to use them all, but the readers of the TFP are a thoughtful and passionate group and we'd love to hear from you.
Until next time.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com, 423-757-6343 or twitter.com/jgreesontfp.