Small Talk is Dangerous

[quasigeostrophy]

A best friend of mine started responding similarly to "Good Morning" greetings back in high school. He'd add, "Are telling me it is a good morning? You're wrong! Are you asking me to have a good morning? What if I don't want to?" etc. So, one day when I was getting ready to leave for a band competition around 4:30am in the school parking lot, and he was there dropping off a fellow band member, I said to him, "Pre-dawn, M." He thought for a brief second before smiling and responding in kind. :-)

Comments

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

When I'm feeling grumpy I'll go a British and just churp 'Morning' at people. Then they have no clue, I'm not tainting their day, and we all are honest folk.

[sistercoyote.livejournal.com]

I believe George Carlin did a similar routine about "Have a nice day" (which, btw, I categorically refused to say when I worked at Disneyland. "Enjoy your day" seemed better, or "good night," depending on my shift.)

And it is because of George Carlin that when people ask me how I am I do not answer fine. I generally answer "I'm reasonable," largely because I can never remember to say "I'm moderately neato."