Anyways

Every day when I get in at work, the sub-boss and I greet each other.

"How're you?" one of us will say, in a chipper, chirpy, cheerful voice.

"I'm well, thanks!" answers the other of us, invariably. This is because, despite what most people think, 'well' is the grammatically valid response. ('Good' is appropriate for describing what someone is like, not how they are.) And we are English teachers, so obviously we should be grammatically correct in conversing.

In college, I almost always said 'well'. This is because we were all hyper-educated and being grammatically correct even in social contexts just seemed like an added bonus. Now, though, with my other colleagues, I'm a bit more relaxed (read: normal... I think), and I just say 'good'. Because so does everyone else. It's kind of an unspoken mutual understanding: none of us is going to break it by going and trying to look more educated than the others by saying 'well', so we can all just relax and say 'good'.

Except with the sub-boss. I can't remember which of us started it, but now I think we are stuck, because it would suck to be caught using improper grammar by one's sub-boss, and at the same time, she can't risk having one of her employees use better grammar than she does.

What makes it all a bit ironic is that she once got the passive confused with the subjunctive (?!?!) and frequently starts sentences with "anyways...". Still... I always have to steel myself for the feeling of pretentiousness that washes over me every time I step into the office.

In other news, I really need to get a haircut, but I am scared of Italian haircutters (or it could just be haircutters in general) and I don't know where to go and, also, I don't know what to say when I get there. I think this is because I am embarrassed to be a foreigner and not know all those little polite phrases. You know, like "yeah, I'd just like to get a quick cut, please" rather than "I need a haircut please." Knowing how to say "would like" and where to stick the "just" and the "quick" and stuff like that. It's difficult. Will confer with my colleagues (who all look less scruffy than I do, and must therefore have had their hair cut somewhere) and let you know if I manage to solve the problem.