Into a Writer's Head

The Jewish Goodbye...

I've spent a lot of time thinking over this phenomena over the last few days. Really, it's an event in and of itself. Please note: anyone with a large family may find they are also subject to a Jewish Goodbye upon leaving a family gathering.

"What is a Jewish Goodbye?" you ask. It's very simple really. When at any kind of event with more than two Jews in attendance, you will see that it takes all of them at least 30-45 minutes to actually say goodbye and walk out the door. This is the reason we will often stand up and say, "I should get going," 30 minutes before we plan to leave. It's a safety precaution, really. This is how it usually all goes down: you check your watch and notice that it's going on 9:45 and know that you still have to drive across a bridge to get home and are working the next day. You stand up and tell your nearby companions you should get going, but first you have to say goodbye to a couple of people. You walk over to table #1, "I'm leaving, but I just wanted to say goodbye". Here is where it gets fun. At this point one of two things will happen. The person either looks at you like you're nuts and turns away, or follows your statement with, "Already? I'm sorry we didn't get to chat more..." From here, a brand new 15 minute conversation begins. Repeat steps as necessary as you make your way around the room, trying to catch the people you know, and who you actually want to know you're leaving.

This is part of the reason an hour after I originally said, "I better get going," I finally made it out to the parking lot.

***In other news, yesterday was day 27 of rain. And not your nice, drizzly Seattle rain, either. No this was your freak of nature, Michigan rain. Will today make for day 28? I swear, I think I need to build an ark. This is ridiculous!

posted by Erin @ 10:24 AM