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That definitely sounds like a deeper problem, but there may still be an easy fix. Sometimes crumbs, bits of dirt, or even bugs will get under the keys, preventing them from pressing all the way down and engaging the switch. You could try prying off the top of the U and seeing if there's any cleaning to be done. Beyond that, it gets more complicated than I would want to try walking someone through in comments. There are several YouTube videos out there (probably some on other platforms as well) on laptop repair. Keyboards are usually pretty and cheap and pretty easy to fix.

Fuuuunny story. I juust pried the U key off and even thouuugh there wasn't any dirt or buugs or anything uuunder there, I am now getting even more uuuuuus than I ever couuuld have wanted.

Damn the curse of abundance!

That sounds like you have some corrosion or other contamination inside the switch mechanism. Replacement will likely be the only thing to get it like new again, unless you're into a component-level teardown and cleaning of your laptop keyboard (which could easily make things worse!).

My best thought for a quick fix: buy or borrow a cheap USB keyboard.

I thought about getting an external keyboard. But, I rather like the look of a sleek black Apple keyboard with a single glowing white hole in the middle where the U key used to be. It will make me feel extra stylish when I go into Starbucks next time.

Sounds like a great plan!