Orthodixie
The ways people say Goodbye are various and sundry; some ways of saying Goodbye can seem just plain odd. There are times when – as Christians, let’s face it – Goodbye doesn’t really mean Goodbye.
When my wife and I moved to Wisconsin, back in 1989, we were shocked when, after serving our guests a fabulous dinner and having had great conversation, the man, a life-long Wisconsinite said: “Welp, gotta go!” And within moments, he and his wife were out the door and headed home!
Weird.
They seemed perfectly happy, smiling, as they left. But left they did!
Why did I find this peculiar?
Well, where I come from, at least within my native Country Culture, saying Goodbye is easy …
Leaving is danged near impossible.
For instance:
When I was a kid, my folks used to play a card game called Rook with some other church couples. This was, apparently, allowed in the Baptist Church – Rook that is. (Poker and betting games were, of course, verboten.)
These evening affairs, usually on Friday nights, included dinner, and then hours and hours – seemingly years – of endless playtime for us kids.
When the event was apparently ended, parents would yell the names of their kids signaling it was time to go home. Struggling to be obedient, we came.
We suspected, however, that our parents were not really ready to part company — for, they did not disperse — but, rather talked adult conversation, right in front of us kids, about us! As if we were not there! How we’d grown, how we’d changed, how pretty, shy, or handsome we were. This, it seemed, went on for 38 years.
We eventually wiggled our way out of that uncomfortable nonsense and headed outside for more play.
I know what you’re thinking, “I thought they were leaving?”
As in: Goodbye.
Well, it’s not always so easy: Goodbye .
Here’s how a typical Goodbye went down – at least, back when I was a kid – in the South:
The Orthodixie Podcast on Ancient Faith Radio.
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Rook Image Source
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