👍 The emoji that's tearing generations apart

As society marches backward toward hieroglyphics, there’s some confusion emerging.

When our writer Ryan Reed noticed his 72-year-old dad dropping the thumbs-up emoji in nearly every convo, it sparked a deep (and hilariously awkward) dive into the semiotics of emoji*. For Boomers, it's a smile in shorthand. For Millennials and Gen Z? It might read more like "cool, whatever" or "conversation over."

A CNN texting quiz showed that emoji preferences vary wildly by age, 28% of Gen Zs use 💀 for laughs, compared to just 1.8% of Boomers. (I have relatives who think that 🙏 means high-five, others see hands praying.) 

Ryan conducted a full emoji audit of his dad’s texts (yes, including a triple-thumb incident) and got candid insights from both parents on what the gesture really means. Spoiler: it might be the digital equivalent of a dad shrug.

* - “Semiotics of emoji” is without a doubt the coolest thing I’m going to type this month.

Inspired by Ryan Reed’s thumbs-up audit, we want to know…

And what did we learn?

How do you handle a coworking with BO? We had tips in yesterday’s Daily GOOD. And we had a question.

Could you tell a coworker they stink?

Nearly 10% of you were surprised to discover that wearing deodorant is expected at work. I’m going to hope that you were kidding! Over 35% of you could never work up the nerve and I’m right there with you.

• I've done it and I'll do it again (22.6%)

• It would have to get pretty gnarly (32.3%)

• I could never! Never!!! (35.5%)

• Wait... you're supposed to wear deodorant at work? (9.7%)

GOOD Reader AlexJ says they’ve done and would do it again, but offered a friendly approach. “I ask how they've been feeling; wondering if something has changed with their health that might be causing this. Asked with concern, not judgment.”

Image of the day

🐶 “Dear God, can I have another dog?”

When mom and dad say no, sometimes you just have to go over their heads.

Some kids write to Santa. One 8-year-old in the UK wrote to God. Her request? A second rescue dog. Her parents said no, so she did what any determined, dog-obsessed kid might do: addressed an envelope to “God, Cloud 9, Heaven” and dropped it in the mailbox.

Half a year later, a letter came back. From a mysterious “Friend of God,” no less, complete with kind words, encouragement, and a heavenly shoutout to her dog prayers.

Amazingly, someone wrote back, but honestly, the real miracle here is a modern child writing a letter at all. (Guess she couldn’t work out how to drop a spiritual DM.)

In this story by Erik Barnes, we learn who’s behind the heavenly response, but the real question remains unanswered: did she get the dog or not?

🥜 The study that told parents to feed peanuts earlier just got a verdict

From panic to peanuts: what a decade of data now shows.

Peanut allergies are easy fodder for comedians (of course... but maaaybee...), but the reality is not funny. Exposure to peanuts can kill quickly. So it’s no surprise that parents once avoided them entirely. Then, in 2015, Dr. Gideon Lack’s LEAP trial flipped conventional wisdom and suggested the opposite might save lives.

A decade later, as Erik Barnes reports, the data holds up. Early peanut introduction doesn’t just lower allergy risk, it keeps it low as kids grow.

Still, fear lingers. Pediatricians and feeding specialists tell GOOD why hesitation persists, how to introduce peanuts safely, and what this could mean for thousands of families every year.

On a fine day in 1797, a French aeronaut filled a balloon with hydrogen and rose over Paris’s Parc Monceau. You’d be forgiven for thinking that’s the whole story. There’s plenty of danger right there, and who knew people were doing that 200+ years ago? But the real twist is what happened next.

André-Jacques Garnerin drifted to roughly 3,000 feet, then cut himself loose. His prototype frameless silk parachute snapped open, and after a few harrowing minutes of violent swinging, he touched down, alive and grinning. Soon, a small apex vent calmed those wild oscillations, and two years later, his future wife Jeanne Geneviève made the first female parachute descent. From humanitarian airdrops to Red Bull space dives and weekend recreational jumps, Garnerin’s silk “umbrella” started it all. Mon dieu!

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💬 From the group text…

Okay, arachnophobes, I DARE you to be scared of these adorable little guys. Meet Paraphidippus Fartilis. Yes… really.

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