Kissing the Lipless

I have made a change in my life, a significant change.

My friends and I were having dinner a little while back and as we were eating I received a text message. I said something along the lines of, "Aw I love how English people put an 'x' at the end of their text messages," to which my friend replied sadly, "Yeah.... you don't."

Almost every text message I get, or facebook message for that matter, has at least one 'x' at the end, typically more.... Sometimes it's 'xx,' 'xX,' 'XXx,' etc. I never really thought too much about it, just thought it was cute, but apparently not putting at least one 'x' is a bit of a faux pas. My friends told me it was fine, since anyone who text messages me knows I'm American and may not know the ways of the 'x.' I went home and asked my flatmate Grace why she had not informed me of this cultural difference, as she usually does. Here are some rules she explained to me:

1. If you send a message to someone and you don't put a kiss at the end, it implies that you are upset with them.
2. It is okay not to put a kiss at the end if it's something like, "see you in five," but it's better to just do it anyways. 
3. Some boys do not put a kiss at the end, in which case it is appropriate to refrain from placing a kiss at the end of a message.
4. If you are texting a boy and you don't know him well, it is also appropriate to refrain from kissing. If he responds with an 'x,' you must end with a kiss from thereon out.
5. Many people have trademark kisses. For instance, my friend ends her text messages with 'XxX,' another with 'xxx,' and my friend James ends his with "jx."
6. If you are having a long texting conversation with someone, it is acceptable after a while to ceasefire on the 'x's. But you still should just in case.
7. Basically, just always put an 'x' at the end of your text messages.

There are way more. These are just the ones I can remember before my morning coffee has kicked in. I felt pretty terrible for a while... I didn't want my friends, even for a split second before they remembered I'm American, to think I was upset with them.

I keep wondering how this evolved.... I mean, really. How long have text messages been in existence? Less than ten years? And already there are so many rules and standards involved. Do we have stuff like this in the States?

It took a while to get into the habit, but I now put an 'x' at the end of my text messages. At first, my friends would message me back, "Nice x!" --- even the friends I hadn't spoken to about it.

I feel like a much better human being now, and a much better Anglophile.