Monday, August 31, 2020

Have A Nice Day!


And there's another thing calculated to drive a man out of the agora: it's the practice, that has somehow come into our lives, of greeting people by saying "have a happy day." I don't for the life of me see the advantage in this. Nobody in a painful situation is any the better for being told to "have a happy day."

Libanius (4th century AD), Declamations 26.7 (tr. D.A. Russell)


6 comments:

Amartel said...

Who says "Have a nice day?" That sounds kind of 70s to me. I guess a store employees need something to say to acknowledge people coming in and going out of the store. OR DO THEY? How about just "May I help you?" and "Thanks for coming in?"

Lately I've heard "Welcome in" (for arrivals) and "Be safe" (departures).
I don't like these commands.

"Welcome in." It's a Starbucks, asshole, not a yoga retreat where I wouldn't be caught dead anyway and already know I'd not be "welcome" "in." Please just kill yourself. Somewhere in private. Thank you.

Insisting that I "be safe": What if I don't want to be safe? What if I'd prefer to live dangerously? Like, take the mask off and taunt them outside the window. Hahaha, no mask!

The Dude said...

I never wear a mask. How's that for having a nice day, eh? I am having a nice cult-free day every single day.

The upside of interacting with members of that cult is that I can ignore them. "Squeak squeak". Me - nothing. "I SAID SQUEAK SQUEAK!" What's that? Were you talking to me? I can't hear you. Get back to me when you get deprogrammed. And I go on my way. It will be September tomorrow, according to some, the earliest cases in of Chinese Lung AIDS go back nearly a year. I still haven't caught it. Turns out 99% of the population has not caught it.

I am old enough to remember when pandemics actually ravaged populations. The good ol' days...

commoncents said...

SPREAD THIS AROUND! From Tom Cotton - Don't let them win!

https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2020/08/spread-this-around-from-tom-cotton-dont.html

ps. could you please add CC to your blogroll? thanks!

ndspinelli said...

For a few years the employees @ the MGM Grand in Vegas would say, "Have a grand day!" It got stale quickly.

Dad Bones said...

Have a good day, good to see you again, see you later, take care and other similar remarks that you say to people instead of goodbye are what I hear in the Midwest if region has anything to do with it.

Are they still saying "y'all come see us again" in the South? That's a great expression that could only be done by a Southerner, especially one who really means it. And maybe sincerity is the key to any of these sign-offs although I can't imagine anyone caring whether someone has a happy day.

ampersand said...

If anyone in 4th century Rome says "Have a happy day" my response would've been "Whew!" and run before they change their mind.