Brokeback mobile texting

So apparently Men have become so openly affectionate with each other using mobile technology they've taken to signing off text messages to male friends with a kiss (x), giving rise to a new generation dubbed "Metrotextuals".

Whaaaaat?…no no no never….

"Howzit Gareth…wannacome over for a braai, get hammered, and watch the Rugby later? Xxx John" - SEND

"Hey John…don’t ever contact me again …get fucked…thanks…Gareth" SEND SEND SEND!!!!

I have never accepted that word, Metrotextual - therefore I will not tolerate its ethos, no matter how innocent…including x x x to my china plates.

Yes, just like Julius Malema and the word hermaphrodite, or lack thereof in his home language of Phedi, I am sticking my head in the sand on this one. Its just not done…like kissing your mates ex-girlfriend, or using his shaving kit.

Its not like girls who can share just about anything with each other, clothes, make-up kisses over text…men have codes that need to be upheld…man er codes if you like.

I still cant even bring myself to watch BrokeBack Mountain for goodness sakes…Look what happens when you have two mates sitting round a campfire next to a brook with beautiful horses in the background…

New research reveals nearly a quarter of men (22%) regularly include a kiss on texts to their male mates.
"Metrotextuality" is most widespread among 18-24 year old males with three quarters (75%) regularly sealing texts with a kiss and 48% admitting that the practice has become commonplace amongst their group of friends.

What is the world coming too? I have seen men acting all feminine in the past and generally they have been surrounded by good looking girls…perhaps the ladies feel less intimidated around these guys who aren’t picturing them naked or drooling into their beers…staring at their cleavage. I actually used to think that the metrosexual types were quite clever, wearing thousand rand t-shirts, smelling better than girls and with more hair products than the Jackson five, therefore standing a better chance than the beer spilling non blinking pervert in the corner..

Nearly a quarter of this age group (23%) even appreciate an "x" in a text exchange from people that aren't close friends….I was obviously very wrong.
But it's not just younger men that have become Metrotextuals - one in 10 men over 55 often completes a text to another male with a kiss, according to the poll…This is like swine flu….its very catchy.
The research also revealed there's a certain etiquette within metrotextuality – why not just keep it too a secret handshake?

A lower case "x' is the preferred sign-off for most (52%) compared to 17% for a bolder upper case X), with one in three sharing the love in a big way with multiple lower case kisses (xxx)….I will say it again….SECRET HANDSHAKE!

Clinical psychologist, Ron Bracey, said that men have traditionally been reluctant to share their emotions with friends and tended to keep their feelings bottled up.

Amen…don’t say another word…Ron!

"However, (noooo why Ron why?) the advent of mobile phones and social media means more communication is done non-verbally, and through this it seems men can more easily share their feelings with others - especially their male friends," Bracey said in the statement.

Confirmed Metrotextual Nick Kirkham, aged 25, who works in insurance, said he and his friends have been sending kisses to each other for years…confirmed? Like an alcoholic? Hi I am Nick and I have been a metrosexual for six years now…Nick also has a lisp can he say metrosexual with a lithsp? Metro…that’s easy..thexsual…well done Nick, now go and fetch me a beer, and don’t even think about taking your phone with you!

"In fact, apart from my boss or a work client, there's no one I wouldn't send a kiss on text to," he said….How about Stone Cold Steve Austin? Or Chuck Norris? Yeah I thought so shud up!

There is something just not quite right about sending your mate a x/kiss via text…you wouldn’t kiss him when you meet up for drinks, unless you were hammered and South Africa just won the World Cup football final against England, or the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, against the All Blacks…a quick peck on the cheek just because he happened to be the nearest person to you might, might be acceptable, and even then might attract funny looks from the rest of the group, or troop or herd LOL.

I just don’t spend all that much time in the mirror, doing my hair, or culling my pubic hairs in some artistic shape, like those hedge designers…I will not pay a grand for a t-shirt and my hair falls flat when I run my fingers through it…

Am I alone on this one, like a cuppa coffee in the Sahara?

In the News

A few headlines I saw today:

One-game ban for hair-pulling Ronaldo
Double World Cup winner Ronaldo has been hit with a one-match ban for pulling the hair of an opponent at the weekend. The 32-year-old Brazilian striker tugged the locks of Botafogo midfielder Fahel, who had been pulling at his shirt.

(Serves him right for having long hair in the first place. He can count himself lucky he wasn’t playing rugby)

Exodus Tyson, the four-year-old daughter of former heavyweight boxer iron Mike Tyson has died after accidentally strangling herself.
(Exodus? Oh the iron-y)

Rare white tiger kills New Zealand zoo keeper
A zookeeper was fatally mauled Wednesday by a rare white tiger at a New
Zealand wildlife park. The male keeper was killed by a royal white tiger while cleaning an enclosure at Zion Wildlife Gardens near the city of Whangarei in New Zealand's north.
Police did not name the keeper but he was reported to be South African Dalu
Mncube, who rescued a colleague from another attack earlier this year.

More irony - mauled to death by a rare animal, having earlier saved someone else from the feit that awaited you? Double irony for Dalu.

Facebook fugitive caught after 105 days
The long arm of the law Wednesday finally caught up with a New Zealand fugitive whose 105 days on the run inspired a Facebook fansite, a song and a line of tee shirts.
William Stewart was caught in a rural part of the Canterbury region, on the
South Island, after a farmer found the 47-year-old trying to steal one of his vehicles in the early hours of the morning.
Police quickly swooped on the area and captured Stewart, who was sporting long hair and a bushy beard after more than three months as an outlaw.

I would have gone with outlaw in the headline; one doesn’t get to use that term too often these days. But that’s just me.