I was wondering if anyone else has trouble when a message contains a lot of smilies?

I find it very hard to read a message where smilies are being substituted or complementing many words and appear throughout a sentence. First off, the smilies often don't completely line up with the type, and that throws me off.

Second, all those tiny images jumping up and down, rolling around, flashing on and off, make something in my brain shut down. I'd have to say that more than 9 times out of 10, I simply can't read the message at all. Which is a shame, because there are times when I believe the poster has something worth reading, but like I said, my brain turns off.

Don't get me wrong -- I use smilies, and I like smilies in moderation. Usually at the end of a sentence or the end of a paragraph. I feel like a dunce for not being able to deal with these cute cartoons when they come at me in abundance.

I'm wondering, with wide range of problems that we come to Psych Central with, there is anyone else who is finds it challenging to read a message if it is broken up by a lot of smilies.

This seems like such a minor crotchet, I'm sure I'll feel better if I find out that I'm not alone with this eccentricity.

Thanks for reading.