"Random" is one of those words I use to get joy from using because it was just not everyday that something/someone deserved the use of that term. I would pull it out of my file cabinet of words like I was pulling out my favorite pair of socks on the rare occasion they were clean. Or like when you use a brand new tube of lipstick for the first time. You just know it is going to be a while until you do it again so you savor the moment. When I say the word "Random" I savor the sound of the word as it rolls off my tongue and delight in how unique and well chosen it sounds in the context of the moment.
Well, I use to.
Now the word is everywhere. It is like the use of the word random is no longer random. How can that be? I feel as if the world is becoming even more unstable than I once thought.
My students started it last year. Someone makes a comment. Another student says, "Wow, that was random." I thought it was one of those little inside group things. No, the students this year do it too. I hear it at least three times a class period. And I heard it on the radio and the TV just this week.
So, as I grieve the loss of the use of such a beautiful and precise word, I hold on to the hope that one day, "Random" will be random again.
