Hello, goodbye

“Have a day,” the cashier quipped as I picked up my bag to leave. I didn’t think about it till I got to the car. What does that mean? Is it too difficult to add one more word – like “nice” or “good?” Since then, several others have generically wished me “a day.” It’s supposed to be witty, I guess, but it irritates me. The reality is we don’t always know how to say hello and goodbye to each other. Mostly we are in too big a hurry to get gone. What’s the point of asking, “Fine, and how are YOU?” if we don’t stay around to hear the answer? Should we change our hellos and goodbyes to “Yo!,” “Wassup,” and “Later?” Do we want to go back to “fare thee well” and “may the devil take thee, then?” The Beatles sang, “I don’t know why you say goodbye – I said hello.” Groucho Marx sang, “Hello, I must be going.” Well, I guess that’s about . . .