New Maryland — Who knew Fonzie‘s favourite salute could be so passive-aggressive?
When Gen-Z twins Aiden and Addison Poose decided to hitchhike across the province, they were horrified to learn that they’d have to use the antiquated “thumbs-up” hand signal.
“I was like ‘Skrrt! You’ve got to be kidding. Please say you’re kidding,'” recalls Aiden Poose.
“Exactly” agreed Addison. “It sounded so cringe and cheugy! This actually used to work? Do we want them to pick us up or flip us off? ”
The thumbs-down to thumbs-up hit centre-stage last week after a Reddit post caught the attention of the mainstream media. Along with emojis like “clapping hands”, the thumbs-up is considered passive-aggressive or sarcastic to the under-30 crowd. A recent survey showed that a majority of people between the ages of 16 and 29 believe that you are “officially old” if you use a thumbs-up or heart emoji.
When asked what their alternative would be, the Pooses said they are going to use a new twist on an old backup.
“It’s apparently not as popular, but we think holding up a sign is dank. But instead of just a place name on it, we are going to show the link to our Instagram travel page!
“I know you’re probably thinking, how are they going to catch that while zooming by at 110 km/h? Well, that’s why we are going to have a…wait for it…QR CODE! I know, hits different right? We think it slaps!
“We can’t wait to get out there and start vibing!”
When their father was asked for his take on these plans, he rolled his eyes and gave two thumbs-up. “I’ll be keeping my gas tank full, just in case,” he said.