Have a Nice One

Whenever I check out at the grocery store or department store or corner gas station and the person hands me my receipt and says, “Have a nice one,” my brain almost explodes.  It is only with great restraint that I don’t pipe up and respond with, “Have a nice one what?  A nice walk in the rain on the way to my car? A nice dinner? A nice trip and fall? (Which I’ve done on the way out of a store more than once.) A nice day at the dentist? A nice shark attack? A nice hernia? A nice, big glass of iced tea? A nice life? A nice one what?”

If my kids are reading this, they are probably dying about now.  I can just hear them, “Mom, that is just how people talk. Chill out!”

And my reply is, “Well, it’s lazy! It’s vague and insincere.”

Have a nice one! A nice one what???

I guess I’m supposed to know what that means. But the funny thing is that the person saying it doesn’t even know what it means. How do I know that? Once when I responded to the poor check-out person and asked, “A nice one what?” I got puzzled, blank stare.

They don’t know. I don’t know. No one knows.

Try it. When someone says, “Have a nice one,” ask them, “A nice one what?”

Now, I know my kids are horrified if they are reading this and they think I was rude to a checkout person. So, kids, just know I was nice about it and used humor. And keep reading – it gets better.

Why can’t we just be clear? Can’t you just tell me to “Have a nice day?” Would that be so hard?

I guess we are just all supposed to have a nice one. Whatever “one” is.

I’m not suggesting we all start speaking in King’s English but it would be nice if a more precise sentence were used.

But wait.

Don’t I do the same thing in my marriage? I say something and I expect that my husband will know exactly what I mean. And sometimes I say things only in my brain and expect him to know what I’m thinking.

There are many times when I thought I told him something but realized that the thought never left my brain and escaped my lips.

“Honey, I told you that!”

“No, you didn’t,” he says.

“I’m sure I did.” I say in a not-so-sure tone.

“Nope.  Never heard about that,” my husband says in a very-sure-tone.

“Hmm…Maybe I thought I said it but maybe it never went any further than my brain,” I admit.

Just like the check-out peeps that drive me crazy with their vague, “Have a nice one,” I’m pretty sure at times I drive my husband, my kids, my family and friends crazy with my vague communication.

Sometimes I make these people that I love have to work to figure out what I mean. What I need. What I want. Because I am not precise in what I say and how I communicate.

Communication is one of the hardest things about relationships. Communication is one of the most important things.

Dear Lord, help me be better about communicating with others. Help me to put in the effort to speak and to listen.

Now, everyone, go have a good one!  I mean, have a wonderfully, blessed day!