An employee of mine can tell when I’ve gotten sidetracked while we are chatting in instant messages. I start typing “ok” after almost everything he writes.

My friend G teases me when I type in “Ok,” replying with “The dreaded ok.” I tried to switch to typing “alright,” but that got the same response.

J didn’t mind the word ok, but H did. And the other night, Draken said he didn’t like it when I responded with just an “ok.”

I say ok for many reasons. In reality, if I were listening to Draken, I would look at him, nod my head and make some small sound of interest every now and then, like uh huh or mmhmm. But in Second Life, there aren’t those visual cus. So I say “ok” to indicate “I hear you.”

Sometimes it will mean “I heard you, and I am processing what you said and thinking of a reply.”

Other times it means “I really don’t have a reply for that” or “I can’t think of anything else to say.”

But sometimes it means “You can say what you want, I’ll pretend to agree and then just do things the way I want to anyway,” or even worse –  “I’m very angry with you right now, and I don’t wish to talk to you.”

The issue is, since none of these people can see my face or my body, there is no supporting information to indicate what that particular ok might mean. They are left to guess at my mood, wondering how I really feel. And this something not acceptable to a dominant man who likes being able to read women.

So I understand it. But damn it; I like saying ok.