We all say it, but do we really mean it?

How many times a day? Six ... seven ... eight?
Ten?
Depending how many errands you're running or how many trips to the convenience store you're making, you could possibly hear it a dozen or more times in a single day.
"Have a nice day!"
We hear it.
We say it.

Do we mean it? Some do but I'm guessing most don't.
If asking "how's it going" or "how're you doing" qualify more as greetings than questions, telling someone to "Have a nice day" is another way of saying goodbye.
We live in a fast-paced, get-in-done, gotta-go society. Nobody has time for a conversation anymore, so we ask questions without waiting for the answer and we make statements that have no meaning.  Strangely, over time we've become busier and far more active than ever before; and yet we waste more time and are considerably less social.
The irony is that we've got this thing we call social media, which is pretty much killing the art of fact-to-face conversation.
Look, I'm not complaining here, I'm just making an observation.
Okay, maybe I'm complaining a little. But for the most part, I've accepted things for how they are.
Take, for example, "Have a nice day!"
When I say it, I mean it. I really do. I suppose that makes it a bit old fashioned, or maybe just old (there's a difference).
In the interest of total honesty, I didn't come up with this topic/blog idea by myself. The other day my wife and I were out running some errands and cashier said to us, "have a nice day!" Instinctively, I responded, "you too!"
As we walked away my wife said, "People always say 'have a nice day.' That's a good idea for your next blog." She's was right (she's always right, right?).
Now please understand, I don't like doing homework. I never have, really. Back when I was in school, I tired to avoid it as much as possible. And yet, I actually gave myself some homework in preparation for this blog.
I decided to pay attention to "have a nice day!" Perhaps I should have counted how many times I heard it/said it in a single day. Instead, I tried to focus on the times I said it to other people, whether I was the one who made the initial statement or whether I said it in response to someone else.
I consider myself a nice person: I open doors, I smile, I give up my seat to pregnant women and old ladies and if someone sneezes, I'm quick with a "bless you." (I don't say "gesundheit" because I think it's a silly word and I feel silly saying it.)
And almost without fail, whenever someone tells me to have a nice day, I immediately give them back a "you too."
But do I really mean it? As part of my homework, I challenged myself to pay attention to how often I said it and more importantly to only say it when I meant it.
I now can say with relative certainty, for me it's no longer just another way of saying goodbye. Nope, if ever I tell you "have a nice day," I really do hope you enjoy the rest of your day. And if you ever you tell me the same, I'll give you a "you too" and I'll mean it, no matter what kind of a hurry I'm in.
See, I told you I was a nice person.
Thanks for reading today's blog ... and have a nice day!