“Have A Good One.” Oh yeah you’re going to make fun of the way a man from Alabama talks when you can not pronounce “water.”

Richie Smith Jr (Lifer) “Having A Good One”

“Have A Good One.” What? Have a good what? I hear this term “have a good one” used by so many younger girls around my local area. No offense to the young ladies. Example; I go purchase a coffee at the local convenience store (called Wawa in the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area). The checkout clerk is an 18-19 year old girl. She rings up the coffee and bag of cashew nuts, I swipe my card grab my purchase and I say “have a good day,” she in turn smiles and says “have a good one.” Maybe I read too much into what people say, maybe I’m crazy because many times I really do stop and listen to what people say. I have always been this way although I never really talk about it with anybody other than my wife. Because my wife is a Thai lady who arrived in the USA back in 2010 and has been trying to understand why (in her words) USA people don’t speak good English or have these strange sayings. FYI: this blog post comes with a whimsical humorous feel, but still I myself really always have listened to “what & how” people say what they say.

Now this saying “have a good one” is something that 20 to 30 years ago would be more akin to a working man’s or trucker’s vocabulary. And mind you to put a better twist on this subject I live a very so called affluent area where the population likes to think of themselves as “refined,” I myself call it what it really is “snobbery.” Either way you look at it, refined and social slang usually are not supposed to mix. So let’s really dive in and look at how people here in New Jersey talk, while keeping in mind most of the population of my so called “affluent” community here in Hunterdon County are originally from anywhere but here. After all 30 years ago this was a farming community that was a far cry from affluent and certainly not refined.

Monday is Mundee, Saturday is Sad-er-dee, and Tuesday is Tuesdee. Water is wooter, often is offin and I could go on and on… so it is no wonder “have a good day” has become “have good one.” It just seems so funny (my opinion) hearing “have a good one” come from younger girls, and because they are not actually saying “have a good day” they sometimes put a whine to it “have___ a good___ won____” almost as if they’re life is slipping away with the words they speak.

Then there is the “we’ll see ya,” this saying just kills me with laughter. Someone leaving and should be saying “good bye” or “good night” will instead say “we’ll see ya.” First thing about this is, who is “we’ll?” It is just one person leaving and how are you going to “see” me when you are leaving? Again I’m ok with you the reader thinking I am the crazy person here. But it is just part of my everyday OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and we all have a little OCD in us. Like most people I keep my OCD hidden from the world. I listen to what people say literally and it will sometimes stick in my head throughout the day. Most times I do laugh it off until I hear a so called “refined” New Jerseyan poking fun at how a Southerner speaks, calling him a “hayseed hick” or “red neck.” Oh yeah you’re going to make fun of the way a man from Alabama talks when you Mr. Jerseyan can not pronounce a word as simple as “water.” Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

So yesterday I was traveling with a friend in Eastern Pennsylvania and we stopped at lunchtime for a sandwich and the girl preparing the sandwich calls out my order number 580, I take the sandwich and say with a smile, “have a great day.” She then fires back with “have a good one.” I walk out the door thinking “wow” it has spread across the river to PA.

I know we all have our own way of talking and it is very much influenced by our local, surroundings and lifestyle. All I ask is; sometimes just take a little time and really listen to what people are saying and the way they pronounce their words, you may find it entertaining as I often do.

Also a funny note: I did some google searches on Jersey slang and the way people in New Jersey talk. But without diving too deep into the search all I could come up with was a bunch of gibberish about the bloated yellow cow “Snookie” or lines from the Sopranos. Both of which, have as about as much to do with real everyday life in New Jersey as the price of tea in China.