“How’s your summer been?”
It’s no surprise that the first thing you’re asked when you’ve been away from school for nearly three months is the professed concern or interest in how your summer has been.
Now, after strenuous research and undercover investigations, I’ve come to the conclusion that you will get either one of these two answers: 1) the workaholic who labored their way through summer, or 2) the couch potato who’s gained 10 virtual pounds from the junk that reality TV fed them.
And it’s always followed up with a courtesy reciprocation of the question, in which the second person asked feels the pressure to contrive a faux travel story or pretend job they worked to make sure they don’t fall into the bum category of the two groups.
Granted, some of us out there really do care how people’s summers have been, and the details that Facebook hadn’t already informed us about; but the other 70 percent are just being nice. I mean, it’s awkward enough running into a classmate whom you barely remembered the name of, but now you’re forced, almost obligated, to show a concerned interest for how their summer went.
And then you have the Tell-it-all Toms who remember every single detail from the minute they stepped foot home back in May. Now you’re really in a mess, because you turned a courtesy gesture into a 12-minute lecture that you could really care less about.
Perfect.
And then you get what I like to call the “no BS’ers” who don’t even try to fabricate a great story to depict their summer, but rather describe their experience in a few words or less such as “it was great” or “just super busy” and maybe even the “oh, you know, just the usual.” This to me interprets absolutely no detail, which can easily be followed up with a “yeah, same here” which negates any potential awkwardness, because it then becomes apparent that neither party really cared much for the other’s summer story.
So, whether you run into an Awkward Andy or Negative Nancy when it comes to the answers of the most populated question of the start of the school year, make sure you include a celebrity or foreign country visit in your story – and let the vicious cycle of lies begin.