We need contracted goodbyes

As I have pointed out previously, people like to contract and subcontract their greetings.
"Oh, are you on the phone with Brian? Say hi to him for me!" --contracted greeting
"Hey, tell Keni that Abe says hi." --subcontracted greeting

I am still puzzled why people do this. If you know the person, why can't you just reach out directly to the person?

Today was the end of the two-week visit with one of my best friends. We packed quite a bit into two weeks, but all good things come to an end*. Instead of contracting our hellos, we should be contracting our goodbyes because they suck. I don't like to say goodbye to people I care about. Of course, we will stay in touch, but you never know how life will work out. You always assume people will be around until one day they are not.

At least we had a pre-goodbye in the morning before we left for the airport so we could avoid the protracted interaction in the drop-off lane. Traffic was light. The airport was not busy. He arrived safe and sound back to the tundra of Michigan this afternoon.


*Aside - Don't all things come to an end at some point including bad things? Why is the saying that all GOOD things come to an end?
Wow this was really good. I agree. I love it when you don't just stop at a funny or quirky observation but you also go one layer deeper into the more personal.

My friends from college visited me in October and I remember the feeling of saying goodbye at our final breakfast. I remember thinking we were going to shake hands like 'men' but then being greeted by a flurry of hugs. 
2021-03-11 01:30:37
Thank you sir I'll have to keep that in mind about going beyond the surface-level observations.
2021-03-11 14:36:02
Well I don't wanna say that they're surface level. They're definitely below surface since most people don't see them. But they're still not brandonian levels :) 
2021-03-11 14:47:00
Looking forward to you digging around and finding new places though 
2021-03-11 14:47:14