The internet is so taken aback by good manners that a tweet about a British grandma who used “please” and “thank you” as bookends to a Google search has achieved viral status.
We all have a family member who may be a little less tech-savvy, and May Ashworth, 86, appears to fit that bill. Her grandson, Ben, 26, tweeted a screen shot last week after he opened his “Nan’s” laptop and found she was speaking to Google as if the search engine was a real person.
“Please translate these roman numerals mcmxcviii thank you,” May had typed.
Omg opened my Nan's laptop and when she's googled something she's put 'please' and 'thank you'. I can't ??? pic.twitter.com/hiy2tecBjU
— Ben ? (@Push10Ben) June 9, 2016
Ben told CNN that the attention on May was “utterly mad” — 32,000 retweets and 46,000 likes — but he said it was great that it seemed to be making people happy and “after the absolute atrocity in Orlando people need a reason to smile.”
Thursday he uploaded a picture with his “famous Nan.”
Finally managed to get my famous Nan to take a picture with me! pic.twitter.com/DKgEZf5SiU
— Ben ? (@Push10Ben) June 15, 2016
And Google even tweeted back with an answer, proving that May’s instincts were correct and there IS a real person on the other end.
Dearest Ben’s Nan.
Hope you’re well.
In a world of billions of Searches, yours made us smile.
Oh, and it’s 1998.
Thank YOU@Push10Ben— Google UK (@GoogleUK) June 15, 2016
