Nobody needs a “smilie” to clearly understand what Cholula posted so eloquently.

It is truly frightening how vivid the image in my mind became as I read that.

As for additional “smilies” available on FlyerTalk, I am neither for nor against this idea as long as whatever is added is not distracting, but I personally never use them in whatever I post.

The only exceptions are “post icons” used next to titles, such as the green circle with the black arrow (chiefly for the Who Will Be The Next FlyerTalk Member To Post? An OMNI Game thread, which makes it easier for me to tally points for the latest scores), the paper with the text on it (which I use when posting news), and the yellow triangle with the exclamation point — although I can see how the blue circle with the question mark can be quite useful.

For FlyerTalk, it might be useful to have such icons as an airplane, train, automobile, dining (the familiar knife, fork and plate icon), clock, ticket, bed (for hotel rooms, you perverts!), etc. to better and more quickly convey as to what the message is about. Used properly, these icons have the potential to be time-savers, especially to those who have limited time to peruse FlyerTalk.

More “symbol” icons such as those would certainly be welcomed by me.