I send and receive πtext messages. It began when I texted a friend “pandemic checkin” to attempt to succinctly note:
“Hello! We are so lucky* to live in this historic period of time, and with it, so much uncertainty. Asking “how are you” is probably irrelevant and/or ignorant, but I would like to let you know I am thinking of you.”
They responded “ha, I thought you said “pandemic chicken” at first” and thus, the π[chicken] checkin was born!
Weeks have passed and you remember a particular friend and wonder about them? Send a π!
You know you want to reach out but you aren’t really quite sure what to say or what to open with, given that you and your friend no longer have any IRL shared contexts for nearly a year now? π!
You live in different cities, and would see each other a few times a year, talking on the phone a little more often than that, but you don’t know what their schedule is like, or if they even still have a job? π will serve you to reach out, and explain the “pandemic chicken”.
What I like most about this is what started as a thing with one friend has extended to more people in my circle, and used in a mutual fashion. It is a small, absurd thing that makes me happy.
Note: the π in the font on this blog differs than the one on my phone/other screens, which looks more like:
* “lucky” in this case, depending on your perspective and own desire to live through “historic times”
Loved the pandemic chicken :’D