Okay, so this 'drake duck face' thing. I heard about it, saw some pictures, you know how it is. And I thought, 'Alright, what's the deal here? Is this the new big thing?'
My first step, obviously, was to try and figure out what made this duck face different. Because, let's be real, duck faces have been around. Forever. I spent a good twenty minutes, maybe more, just staring at pictures. Drake. Other people trying the 'Drake' duck face. I was squinting, tilting my head, the whole nine yards. Trying to catch the nuance, you know?
Honestly, I didn't really get it. Looked like a duck face to me. Maybe a bit more... I don't know, 'broody'? Is that the word? Anyway, I even tried to pull one myself in the mirror. Just for research purposes, of course. Felt ridiculous. My dog just looked at me like I'd lost my mind.
This whole experience, this trying-to-decode-the-latest-trend, it just threw me back to this other time. A few years back. Not a face trend, but a 'cool phrase' trend. Everyone at this place I was hanging out at started using this one particular phrase for everything. Something you'd hear and think, 'Huh, that's what the kids are saying now.'
So, me, trying to fit in, I started practicing it. Saying it to myself when no one was around. Trying to get the intonation right, so it sounded natural, not like I was trying too hard. I even made a mental note of situations where I could use it. Pathetic, I know. I waited for the perfect moment to drop it into a conversation. Real casual like.
The moment came. Group chat, something funny happened. I typed it out. Sent it. And... crickets. Just pure, awkward digital silence. Then someone, probably trying to be nice, replied with a single question mark. It turned out the phrase was already ancient history. Like, people had moved on weeks before. Weeks! In internet trend time, that's basically a century.
I wanted to delete my message, delete the app, maybe even delete myself for a second there. All that 'practice' for nothing. Worse than nothing, actually, because I just ended up looking like a complete dinosaur trying to be down with the kids.
So when I see stuff like the 'drake duck face,' I just kinda sigh now. I'll look, I'll see it, but I'm not going down that practice rabbit hole again. I’ve learned my lesson. Some things are just meant to be observed from a safe, non-participatory distance. My dignity, or what's left of it, thanks me for it. Most days, anyway.
