Here’s what I’m wondering: What is okay? When questions are answered with “okay” what do we actually mean?
So many different questions are answered with the same word, and the questions are SO diverse. So, why are the answers the same? And how are we supposed to translate what they actually mean?
My kid is okay. My friend’s car is okay. The neighbor’s experience training the new dog is okay. Plans for the wedding are okay. The podcast was okay. Surgery went okay. The weather is okay. Everything will (sooner or later) be okay. The haircut is okay. I am okay. Yes, that hurt, but it’s okay.
And if this bugs me, why, why, why do I use the same word for everything I don’t actually want to deal with? When people ask me things that fall into the “can’t deal” or “none of your business” or “not prepared to engage in this discussion right now/with you/until I have something buttered to eat,” the answer is almost always, “okay.”
I think I’m not willing to get uncomfortable with a discussion. Okay works. Okay fills.
But sometimes, it’s actually true. Not good, not bad, but sustainable. Okay.