There is an amusement park near my house, and on every ride, right before you take off, the 12-year old running it tells you to "have fun." It doesn't matter how terrifying it is supposed to be, or vomit inducing, the last instruction you receive is to "have fun."
I always hated that.
I mean, of course we were all going to at least try to have fun, weren't we? After all, we had come to an amusement park, hadn't we? It wasn't like we had come to "root canal land," or "tax audit town." I always wondered why the forced merriment. Now, though, I have figured it out, largely because I have stared saying it too.
It started as a joke. When a reporter would head out the door to cover a particularly gruesome, or mind numbingly boring story, I would tell them to "have fun." Depending on their religion they would flip me off, or groan. Over the years though it moved from being a joke, to just being how I say good-bye -- and I have found it annoys some people almost as much as it did me at the amusement park.
My husband in particular isn't fond of it. When he has a meeting he doesn't want to deal with or is heading back from a school break it makes him especially grumpy. I try to tell him I'm not mocking him, that it's just something I say, but he doesn't buy it. Once I tried to tell him that it was just my way of reminding everyone that life is precious, and that we should look for the fun in every moment. He looked at me like body snatchers had taken his wife and replaced her with an automaton.
So, now I need to find a new good-bye. I want something catchy, but not too "slick." Maybe something with an ironic twist, like "hello, or is it?" That seems to wordy though. Maybe I could stick with the amusement park thing and tell people to "hold on tight" or "please don't puke."
So many possibilities.
Until a new one is found though -- have fun.
I mean that.