"Say Hi to them," they say.
"For sure," I say.
And just like that, the lie is out there between us. Because the truth is, I will not say "Hi" at all.
Most likely, I will not even think of the "say Hi" person when I next see that person I am meant to pass this greeting to. Most likely, I will be too busy talking with said person about stuff involving she/he and me to intersperse that catch-up time with memories of a previous conversation.
And because I do this (or don't do this), I just assume it is a universal thing. Not that I am a person who says to someone to "say Hi" to someone else (because actually I am quite capable of reaching out with that "Hi" myself), but if I was, I would assume the words fall on deaf ears and no "Hi" would be passed on.
And then one day, I did it. I dropped the "say Hi" bombshell. I finished a phone call with my son, asking him to "say Hi" to his partner.
It felt a bit strange, those words slipping from my mouth. I felt like it was a dare, a trap to catch a lie.
And so in an effort to suck the words back in, I blurted out a torrent of words, giving flesh and substance to what may or may not ensue.
"I never say "Hi" to people if someone asks me to, so I don't expect you to. I don't know why I said it and you don't have to really say "Hi"," I said.
By now, my son was laughing. The laughter let me take my metaphoric foot out of my metaphoric mouth and dance around the delicate subject of false promises.
We all make them. We spend time with someone and suggest that we should get together (Isn't that what we were just doing?). "Say Hi" is interchangeable with such throw away remarks as "Must have you over for dinner soon", or "Let's catch up" or "Let's not make it too long next time".
And of course the dinner and the catch up waft away on the breeze of good intentions, lifted from below by their "say Hi" cousins.
My son cupped the phone and yelled out to his partner, "Mum says "Hi".
I got my diary out and booked a date for dinner.
- Linda Muller