I've started to play a little game at work. Whenever anyone asks me how I'm doing, I simply give them the day of the week. At first, I'd offer the more generous "Oh you know... it's Monday" or the standby "Thank God it's Friday". But recently I've gotten more ambitious with just a "Thursday" and a knowing eye roll. It's surprising how easily this is excepted. It's like I'm taping into a wealth of unstated drama. Like, when I say "It's Wednesday!" they always respond with a "tell me about it" or a "I know what you're talking about". Ironically enough, with the possible exceptions of the more obvious Mondays and Fridays, I really have no idea what I'm talking about, and far less of an idea about they think I'm talking about. The easy conclusion is that it really doesn't matter at all what I say, that we're simply exchanging pleasantries. Bu t it can't be only that. If I were to respond to "How's it going?" with something pleasant but more obscure like "gotta stop and smell the roses", I think it wouldn't be received as well, although in some ways, it's just as meaningful a response. I think there is something just understood in the working world about how we are all supposed to agree on exactly what a Thursday is supposed to feel like. In my book, Tuesdays would probably be the hardest to pull off and luckily, Tuesdays I work at home.
My next challenge is to see if I can start responding in days of the week that aren't actually the current day. Or maybe days of the month. "Well, it's the 14th..." And they'll say "Yeah... Sure is. Suuuuure is".
